


Everything That Is Real (Comes Around)

by Safaia



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, F/M, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-10
Updated: 2010-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:35:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 60,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23601670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Safaia/pseuds/Safaia
Summary: When circumstances force the team to work for Fischer they find themselves against a whole different opponent. The job is risky and he wanted the best but before long they find that the risks in the dream are nothing compared to those in the real world.
Relationships: Ariadne/Arthur (Inception), Past Arthur/Eames - Relationship
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Done for [this](https://inception-kink.livejournal.com/5987.html?thread=8646499#t8646499) prompt at inception_kink. This went from being a long one-shot to being the length of a short novel. The story is done and I'm just posting parts as I get them back from my awesome beta-er laria_gwyn who is a saint for taking this monster on. I own nothing from Inception and I am making no money from this. The title is from the song "What Comes Around" by Ill Nino.

Rome was hot in the middle of July but Ariadne found it hard to care. She was in Rome, a place she had only dreamed of visiting, and all it took to get there was walking into the airport and buying a one-way ticket on the spot. The inception job, while hard on her emotionally and physically, had filled her bank account with more money than she knew what to do with. That was nearly a year ago and the more jobs she worked the less she worried about the little things. She had almost no bills, her student loans were paid up, and she sent a reasonable check to her parents every month. Worrying about her next meal or when she would be able to go out and socialize were things of the past. Somewhere in the back of her mind Ariadne had known those things were going to be in the past the moment she stepped off of the plane, that her life was never going to be the same.

\---

As she watched Cobb vanish past customs it dawned on her that she had made no plans from this point on. The idea of going back to school was unappealing. Ariadne knew that after the dream world and all the time she had spent in it, going to lectures and drawing buildings rather than creating would be mundane. Ariadne reached into her pocket and closed her fist around the bishop. She thought about going home for a visit, she thought about traveling, and she was so deep inside her own head that she did not hear Eames sneak up behind her. “Eames, what are you doing?” she asked after jumping nearly ten feet in the air.

“I think we all need a drink,” he said before sending nods to Yusuf and Arthur who joined them. “Drinks, boys?”

“I guess I could kill a few hours before my flight back home,” Yusuf said, adjusting his bag over his shoulder.

“What about you, love?” Eames asked looking at her and flashing one of his smiles that revealed absolutely nothing about his intentions.

“I don't have anything else planned,” Ariadne confessed before looking at Arthur. He seemed to be having a minor staring contest with Eames before sighing and nodding.

“Perfect, we'll meet at the bar in an hour. Which one are we going to?” Eames asked.

“I know one. I'll send you both directions,” Arthur said and they all nodded before parting ways. Blinking, Ariadne thought about how she had to rent a car, find her way around a city she had never been to before and-- “Need a lift?” Arthur asked, ever the gentleman as he gestured toward the rental area, giving her a small smile.

“I'd love one, thanks, Arthur,” Ariadne said and before she could stop him he picked up her bag and carried it along with his own. At the desk he spoke with the clerk and provided ID and a credit card before they handed him a set of keys. “Do you use your real name?” she asked as they walked through the lot.

“Not usually. In this business it's about reputation. You get better paying jobs if people know who you are. For things like hotels and renting cars, things that leave a paper trail, then no, I don't use my real name,” he said as he stopped in front of a slick Italian sports car. Ariadne was hardly surprised. As they pulled out of the lot she thought about how silly she must look in such a lavish car sitting next to a man in a perfectly pressed three piece suit. The feeling of the wind as they drove along the road was enough to remind her that this was reality but nevertheless she kept the bishop in her lap.

“Having doubts?” Arthur asked after a long silence.

“I wouldn't go that far but it's a comfort to know for sure,” Ariadne replied. “Do you ever question things and need the reassurance?”

“All the time,” Arthur replied with absolutely no hesitation. That surprised her a bit; it was hardly a sign of weakness but it also seemed like something that Arthur would not admit freely. Knowing that someone as on task and focused as Arthur sometimes doubted reality made her feel less silly about those lingering feelings in the back of her head.

Considering who she was with, Ariadne had expected a high class bar surrounded by people who ordered wine off a list with no price. She imagined it would be something like the bar in the hotel she had designed for him and she was going to look completely out of place. When Arthur pulled up in front of a building with no windows and a single door Ariadne could not hide her surprise. Her confusion grew when he opened the door to reveal a hole in the wall bar. The lights were turned down low and with no windows it took her eyes a moment to adjust. There was a wooden bar off to the side and a table surrounded by half a dozen chairs in the middle. The few patrons turned and looked at them before going back to whatever they were doing.

“Go take a seat while I get us some drinks,” Arthur said before walking up to the bar and speaking with the bartender in a hushed tone. Ariadne took a seat at the table and looked around wondering if she felt more out of place here than she would at a high class bar. He joined her a moment later before setting down a cape cod with a side of lime. She was about to ask how he knew her favorite drink but caught herself and realized that it was a stupid question. Arthur was the point man. It was his job to know things and it was naïve of her to think he would not know something as simple as her drink preference. He held up his drink to toast.

“What are we drinking to?” Arthur asked and she had to think about it for a moment. 'To us' seemed too intimate even considering their kiss in the dream, 'to the weekend' seemed too juvenile, and 'to family' seemed stupid since she had no idea if he even had any family. Then it dawned on her and Ariadne held up her glass.

“To reality and all its flaws,” she said and he nodded as they clinked their glasses together.

“To reality,” he repeated giving her a small smile. Ariadne was a little relieved that Eames walked in only a little while later because she had no idea what she could possibly have to talk about with Arthur that would not seem stupid or related to the job. She really did not want to talk about it right now and work seemed like the only thing Arthur would talk about. The first thing Eames did was order a round of shots and bring them over to the table. He did not make a toast, he just raised his glass and they all downed the liquor. Despite herself Ariadne coughed a bit but tried to pass it off as a sneeze.

“Why are we here, Eames?” Arthur said as the bartender walked over and set another round of shots on the table.

“We just completed a job and now we're all considerably richer. Sounds like a good reason to drink to me,” Eames said and Arthur looked a little annoyed when the forger gave him a dark look when he didn't take the shot.

“We shouldn't be going out together as a group; we should have separated at the airport,” he said and Eames shrugged.

“We could have dropped into limbo and we're all still here. We got out without losing our minds or ourselves. We just implanted an idea in a man who is going to throw away everything his father built. I don't know about you but I don't see a better reason to drink,” he said in a serious tone. Images of limbo flashed in front of Ariadne's eyes and she took another sip of her drink, unable to come up with any counter to Eames' argument. Yusuf joined them a little later and Eames loudly announced that the last person to arrive was buying the next round. The chemist reluctantly agreed and before Ariadne could object there was another shot in front of her.

They spent the next few hours emptying their wallets into the bar and talking about everything but the Fischer job. It was a little odd at first but after an hour or so Ariadne realized that this was not a celebration or even a coping method but more of a way of saying 'goodbye.' The odds of all of them working together, or even seeing each other again, were slim so they were saying their goodbyes now. So she laughed when Eames told the story of the heist where he first came up with the blond he used in the second level and how he met Cobb. Yusuf told them stories about the process of mixing some of the components and how the first time he used the sedative his cat got into it. Ariadne managed to tell a few stories about her more interesting college experiences and what it was like working under Miles. She shared the story of how she walked halfway across Paris with her old roommate after one too many drinks.

“You seem to be holding your liquor better now, darling,” Eames said and Ariadne rolled her eyes at him.

“I'm proud to know that I can fool a forger then,” she replied and that earned her a big smile. Arthur did not share any stories and she expected Eames to tease him about it but no one touched on the matter. Whenever she thought about asking him to share a story Eames would catch her gaze and shake his head ever so slightly. The hours fell off the clock and Yusuf stood, saying that he had to get back to the airport. Ariadne was not sure what to say so she muttered a low “thank you for the drinks” because that seemed like a good way to say goodbye. Arthur and Eames gave him a polite nod which he returned before the chemist turned and walked out of the bar. Ariadne knew she had had a bit too much to drink when she stood and nearly tripped over her own feet. In the bathroom of the bar she splashed a bit of water on her face and looked at her reflection. For a moment she thought she saw Mal behind her and turned in a panic. No one was there and Ariadne pulled the bishop out of her pocket and tipped it over. It fell the way it was supposed to and it made her heartbeat slow. When she walked back to the table Eames and Arthur were standing.

“I need to take care of my tab--” she said digging into her bag but Arthur held up a hand.

“I got it,” he said and for a moment Ariadne thought she saw Eames smirk.

“I must be off. Ariadne, it has been an honor working with you.” He gave her a mock bow.

“Very funny,” she muttered rolling her eyes. It was the closest to an actual 'goodbye' she had seen thus far. He winked at her.

“Arthur, make sure you work on getting that stick out of your ass,” Eames said as he turned to leave.

“As soon as you gain some focus,” Arthur retorted and Eames laughed as he walked out of the bar. “Come on, I'll drive you to the hotel.”

“What hotel? I don't have any reservations anywhere.” Ariadne followed him to the door of the bar. He opened the door and held it for her.

“I made an extra reservation at my hotel just in case,” Arthur said still holding the door. Somewhere in the back of her head Ariadne knew she should have been angry with him for assuming that she would not make any plans for herself. At the same time she could not claim any high ground because she had indeed forgotten to plan anything.

“Your faith in me is astounding. Are you even good to drive?” she asked and he smiled as he got into the car.

“I stopped drinking hours ago; you just didn't notice,” Arthur said as he started the car. They drove through the LA crowds until they pulled up in front of a large hotel. He handed the car off to be parked and carried their bags into the lobby. Ariadne was struck by how beautiful this hotel was structurally. It reminded her of a design that had been in her head for years. It was something that she would have killed to stay in even a few months earlier. Arthur joined her with two room keys and they went up the elevator to the top floor. When he opened the door to the room Ariadne could not contain her shock. The sitting room was nearly the size of her old apartment in Paris. There was a flat screen TV and a large couch with a small kitchenette off to the side.

“This is way more than I can afford,” she said.

“Consider it a gift for bringing Cobb back,” Arthur said and she turned to look at him. He smiled at her, a small warm smile, before he set her bag on the floor. “Have a good night, Ariadne.” With that he closed the door and she was left alone in a giant penthouse suite. The job, the jet lag, and the liquor all caught up with her so fast that she barely had the energy to change into her pajamas and crawl into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

The sound of someone knocking on her door drew Ariadne from a dreamless sleep and she had never been more thankful for no dreams. Sitting up she felt her stomach lurch and her head start to pound. “Great. Hangover,” she said as she walked out of the room and ran her fingers through her hair. When she opened the door she had to blink back surprise. Arthur was standing there looking as prim and proper as ever in a blazer and dress pants holding two plastic bags.

“You look rough,” he said and Ariadne sighed. Clearly 'subtle' was not in Arthur's dictionary.

“Did you come here to insult me, Arthur? Because if that's the case I'd really just like to go back to bed.” She tried to close the door but he put his foot out and stopped her..

“I'm sorry, I'm here to help. I've got eggs, bacon and a bottle of Aspirin. Let me make you breakfast,” Arthur said and she looked at him through narrowed eyes.

“You cook?”

“I make no promises about the quality,” he said. She stepped aside and let him into the suite suddenly feeling very uncomfortable in her tank top and flannel pajama bottoms. If Arthur cared he did not say so. The counter facing the stove had high chairs that she sat on as she watched him get things together. The first thing he did was hand her two pills and a glass of water.

“How do you know so much about curing hangovers?” Ariadne asked as he pulled out a frying pan and a bowl.

“Eames was right about one thing; the best way to clear your head after a job is a good drink. Or ten.” Arthur broke two eggs into a bowl and started to scramble them. He moved to the sink to add a little water and she gave him a confused look.

“Did you show up here with no clue how to do this? You don't even have anything to help with sticking on the frying pan,” Ariadne said standing and walking around to the stove and easing him out of the way. “Let me do this.”

“I think I can handle it,” Arthur said trying to move her away but she stayed firmly in place. He seemed to realize that she was not moving, sighed and sat down on one of the chairs in silence. Ariadne continued to cook for a few minutes as he watched her before the silence became too much. “Why are you here, Arthur?”

“Why? Why does it matter?”

“You didn't even say goodbye to Cobb, Yusuf got a nod and you insulted Eames before they all left. You let everyone else just walk away but you're still here with me. Why?” she asked. Arthur blinked once without breaking her gaze.

“Because I don't want to say goodbye,” he said without missing a beat, like it was obvious, like it was in flashing neon lights. Ariadne dropped what she was doing and walked around the counter to him. He was about to stand when she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. It was not like the kiss they shared in the dream, soft and quick, instead she pressed her lips against his hard. For a brief moment Ariadne felt a surge of absolute panic when he did not move and she worried that she had somehow stepped over a line or read this all wrong or something else where she was going to look like a complete fool. The hand on the small of her back as Arthur pulled her closer was enough to deter any doubts she had. Ariadne broke their kiss and rested her forehead against his, trying to calm her nerves. She had just kissed Arthur, Arthur had kissed her back, and now they were so close she could feel his heart beating.

“I need someone I can depend on out in the field.”

“Are you asking me to be your partner?” Ariadne asked, moving back so she could look him in the eye. Arthur smiled.

“Absolutely.”


	2. Chapter 2

That was how it started .She traveled with Arthur, the two of them moving from job to job and seeing every inch of the world. They built cities, countries, an entire world from scratch for people trying to find out information that no one spoke of. Each time she felt like she was about to doubt reality Arthur was there to remind her of what was real. They were effective, they got the job done, and they did it better than anyone else working in the field. So they received numerous phone calls and were able to pick and choose whatever clients or jobs interested them. They were between jobs on this hot day in Rome as Ariadne looked out onto a city that she could not build if she tried when the phone rang. It was her cell, her personal one, so she was surprised when she answered and instantly knew the voice on the other end.

“Did I wake you, darling?” It was Eames and he sounded as amused by everything as always.

“No, you didn't, which is lucky for you because I tend to get grumpy when that happens,” Ariadne replied. “And I'm not even going to ask how you got this number.”

“You change your personal line every three months and you always give the new number to Cobb. All I had to do was ask him; he didn't seem to think you would mind,” he said.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked, not really in the mood for any of his jokes or taunts. The city of Rome was out there waiting for her to explore it.

“I called to let you know that you are gaining quite a reputation,” Eames said and there was no humor in his voice. “While that's good for business it tends to attract people you might not want to work for.”

“What do you know?” Ariadne asked, suddenly worried.

“Just a rumor but be careful who you agree to work for.” The line went dead and she sighed before flipping it shut.

“Who was that?” Ariadne turned around to see Arthur buttoning up one of his shirts and already wearing a tie with a vest and coat lying nearby.

“Eames, he said that our reputations are starting to attract interesting people,” Ariadne said before she set the phone on the table and walked over, wrapping her arms around him. He smiled down at her and it took her a moment to realized that he was dressed more formally than usual. “Wait, where are you going? Did someone call?”

“Well, yes,” he said before she took a step and smacked him on the arm. “What was that for?”

“I didn't come to Rome to work. I'm an architect and there is no better place for me to be than this city,” Ariadne said crossing her arms.

“I know and it's just a meeting to see if we want to deal with this person or not. They are being very hush-hush about who they are and what they want. Considering Eames’ warning this is exactly what we ought to look out for,” Arthur said, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“You're not going alone,” she said and he shook his head.

“I don't know what this person wants or who they are. There is no way you're going with me,” he said. Ariadne glared at him.

“I don't like it when people try to protect me,” she warned but all he did was smile.

“That's why I keep doing it,” he replied before kissing her on the cheek. “I'll be back soon and we can go on a nice tour of the city. Promise.” Ariadne watched him leave the room, sighed and pulled out a sketchpad to doodle.

\---

Even Arthur could admit that Rome in July might be too hot for his normal suit but that did not make him want to change. At every meeting with any possible client he wanted to look professional so they knew that he was not someone they could manipulate. There was something about the phone call setting up this meeting bothered him. When he tried to trace the number back he had turned up nothing and when he tried to trace it back even further there was no paper trail. Arthur knew he was good at his job and if there was anything to find he would find it. That was why when the client asked for a meeting location he suggested a nice public place where if things went wrong there would be a witness or twelve. He had never been unable to find out anything about a client before meeting them and there was nothing else in the world that could have made him more nervous.

Ariadne would be furious if she knew he was meeting this person in St. Peter's Plazza but it was a place where he could see everything happening around him and tourists would be too taken in by the church to notice or care what two people were talking about. Arthur admired the scenery of the square near the Vatican Obelisk in the center. There were so many people running around that he wondered whether or not the client would even see him. He was not going to stand around for hours and wait for someone he knew nothing about.

“It's like something out of a dream,” a voice with an American accent said from behind him and Arthur turned to see a man wearing a simple suit looking at him. His hair was going gray but his eyes were hard as stones. “Is that too cliché?”

“A bit,” Arthur said standing a little straighter.

“I'm glad you decided to meet me despite the fact that you couldn't learn a thing about me,” the man said. “Just call me Jim.”

“Is there a point to this meeting or are you just hear to brag about eluding my research?” Arthur asked feeling impatient. Even with this many people around there was something about this man that made him uneasy.

“Very well, I'll get to the point. I have a job offer for you, one for a very powerful person. I need to know, however, if you're able to get the best for this job.” Arthur narrowed his eyes.

“You are talking to one of the best in the field and I have the best architect in the world with me. What more do you need?” he asked and Jim smiled.

“Dom Cobb,” he said and Arthur must have flinched because he smiled. “He fell off the radar a few months back but it’s rumored that you two worked together for a long time. Is there any truth to that? You don't need to answer, just know that we need the best extractor in the business for this job. My boss is requesting you and your friend by name.”

“And who would your boss be?” Arthur asked.

“Robert Fischer.” It was enough to make his blood run cold; there was no possible way they could do a job for Fischer. If Fischer suspected for even a moment that he had seen them before there was no telling what would happen. If he found about their link to Saito or worse, got a hint about the inception things would fall apart. While he had come to trust Saito to an extent, Arthur did not want to think about how the businessman would react if he found out they were working for Fischer.

“I think we'll pass, thanks.” Arthur turned to leave.

“You know, I'm a point man as well,” Jim said and Arthur froze in place. “And it really wasn’t that hard to find information about you, Arthur, or your lady friend, or Cobb for that matter. Who knows, maybe if I keep digging I might find some proof of some of your less than legal escapades. Maybe Cobol Engineering is still looking for blood.” Arthur turned around and glared at the man before him who merely laughed. “Mr. Fischer told me I had to convince you to do the job; he never said how. Just think about it before you say 'no' because rejection could have interesting consequences.” Jim walked by slipping him a single business card. “Call me when you've made a decision. And when you assemble make sure you bring the best.” He left Arthur standing in the middle of St. Peter's Plazza with people moving around him. Clenching his fists tightly he picked up his phone and dialed a number as he walked faster than normal..

“Cobb, it's me, we have a problem.”

\---

Ariadne was halfway through a sketch of a maze that would confuse someone for weeks when the door burst open and Arthur walked in. Instantly she knew that something was wrong; he looked disheveled and out of place. That was something she had never seen in him in the year she had known him. It was enough that she dropped what she was doing and stood. “Arthur, what happened?”

“We need to leave, now,” he said in a stern voice closing up his barely unpacked suitcase and avoiding her eyes.

“I can see that but you need to tell me why,” she said walking over and putting a hand on his cheek so their eyes met. “Tell me what happened.”

“We're being blackmailed into working a job for Robert Fischer,” Arthur said before moving away from her. “We need to get to Los Angeles as soon as possible.” Ariadne stood dumbfounded for a moment before gathering her things as fast as she could. After packing in silence for a few minutes Arthur took a step back and ran his hands through his hair. She had never seen him so furious and so rattled. Even after other jobs that took them to dark and terrifying places he always came back as calm and collected as ever. Something about what this man had said to him had really thrown Arthur off and Ariadne did not want to think about what a person who could do that must be like.

“Arthur.” She touched his arm and he flinched. “If we need to go into hiding why are we going to LA?”

“Because this guy wants the best and we both know who the best extractor in the world is,” he said before looking away. “I need to talk to him, in person, as soon as possible. He knows something is wrong and that we're on the way.” Ariadne nodded and she knew that he was right; they needed to get to LA as soon as possible. As they rushed out of the hotel room she could only muse that Rome would have to wait.

\---

Arthur spent the entire trip from Italy back to California on his laptop in near silence. Ariadne wanted to break it and ask what was bothering him so much but as she thought about it she realized what was wrong. Arthur thought that, somewhere along the line, he had made a huge mistake. Someone that he could not find any background on somehow had leverage not only over him but over their entire team. He seemed to think that as someone who did all of the research it was also his job to cover their tracks. From what she gathered from Arthur and Cobb they had worked together for at least two years and for some time before Mal passed away. They had never had a problem with jobs catching up with them until the Cobol job. They were now going to Cobb’s house to tell him that not only did he have to do a job for the person they had performed inception on, but they were being blackmailed into it. The entire thing was one step away from ruining everything Cobb had risked to get back to his kids.

Ariadne looked at Arthur and she knew that the last thing he wanted to do was take that away from his former partner. As they walked through the LA airport she decided it was time to take the initiative and confront him, try to ease his worries, something, anything that would take the burden off of his shoulders alone. He was carrying both of their bags as usual, mostly because Ariadne really did not want to argue about it, and their PASIV in his other hand. They had contacts at the Rome airport as well as in New York and LA that kept the machine moving without being seen by security. When she took his arm and stopped him in the middle of the airport he turned and looked at her. “Is something wrong?” Arthur asked his eyebrows creasing in concern.

“I don't know what exactly is going on but you can't blame yourself for it,” Ariadne said and held up a hand to silence him before he could protest. “You asked me to be your partner and partners share burdens. So when we're done running around you're going to share. I'm not staying in the dark.” The two of them stayed completely still for what felt like a long time but she did not release his arm.

Arthur set one of the bags on the ground and pulled her in for a rough kiss. Ariadne was a little surprised since he was not one to flaunt their physical relationship in public but when he pulled away he did not say a word; he just gave her one of his half smiles and nodded before picking up her bag. They continued through the terminal until they saw Cobb waiting for them. He did not look terribly thrilled to see them.

“I want to hear every detail of what is going on before we even get to my house,” he said without bothering to say 'hello.' Ariadne did not entirely blame him because their arrival could mean the downfall of what he had struggled to get back to for two years. She listened from the backseat while Arthur summarized the meeting in Rome. He said that the mysterious Jim had some sort of leverage on them that he was using to blackmail them into doing a job for Fischer. Cobb remarked that it did not seem like a business tactic that their former mark would use but was more characteristic of his god father. Arthur agreed but he also thought there was a good chance that Fischer did not know who exactly he was dealing with when he hired 'Jim.' When he added that he could not find any information on Jim and that he had not covered their tracks well enough, Ariadne wanted to tell him that he had done his best, that something might have happened that was out of his control, but nothing she said would have helped. Whether he had missed something or this other point man had somehow outmaneuvered him, Arthur would not accept either failure lightly.

Ariadne had only been to Cobb's house once not long after the inception job. Miles had been there and she had formally said goodbye to her old professor and told him that she was not coming back to school. He did not seemed surprised but said that she would always be welcome back into his class whenever she wanted. She met Phillipa and James and it was almost eerie how much both of them looked like Mal. She really wished she had good memories of Cobb's wife because from what Arthur had told her, Mal had been a wonderful person and nothing like the shade in the dreamworld.

When they pulled up Miles opened the door and the two children came running out. They nearly tackled Arthur and it made her smile to see how good he actually was with these kids. He scooped up James in one arm and Phillipa took his hand, pulling him through the door. Cobb and Miles helped her with the bags and Ariadne walked into the house. As James and Phillipa dragged Arthur around the house and then proceeded to include Ariadne in the shenanigans she knew Cobb was waiting for the kids to go bed before confronting the two of them. She blushed a very deep shade of red when Phillipa mentioned how pretty she was and asked Arthur for his input. He agreed and gave her one of his half smiles before going back to showing James how to build a nice tall tower that would not fall over.

The sun had just gone down when Cobb put the kids to bed. Miles excused himself saying that he really did not want to hear about any illegal things they had done or that they might do. Arthur looked tense sitting next to her on the couch as Cobb sat down. He rubbed his temples before he sat back and looked at both of them.

“Is there any way of finding out what kind of leverage he has over us?” Cobb asked and Arthur flinched a bit as if the question was a physical blow.

“I spent both of the plane rides trying to find out but I couldn't find anything from anyone. None of our contacts in the business know anything and if they do they aren't talking. I don't want to resort to any unconventional ways of getting information,” he said and Ariadne wondered if he had used those methods in the past.

“So for all we know he could be bull shitting us or he really might have something that could send us to jail or worse.” Cobb leaned forward and stared into nothing for a long time.

“Maybe we're over thinking this,” Ariadne said and they both looked at her. “I know that Saito won't be happy if we take this job but he might understand the circumstances if he knows what they are. Maybe we should just do the job and leave. Fischer looked right at you as you were walking out of customs and didn't know who you were. If we keep him out of direct contact with Eames or anyone else he got a look at in the first level maybe we'll be okay.”

“Fischer has had training which means he has a better chance of remembering details than a normal mark,” Cobb said creasing his eyebrows. “Then again it sounds like we might not have much of a choice. I can't risk leaving my kids behind, not again, and if that means I need to take on another job then I guess I’ll do it.”

“He claimed he wanted the best, like he already knew who that was. It makes me think me think he has something that could incriminate Yusuf and Eames as well,” Arthur said and Cobb nodded.

“Call both of them and get them to come out here as soon as possible. Tomorrow I want you to find a place to rent where we can work; I'm not bringing work home. Get information on the mark as soon as possible and make sure this guy knows we are doing the job,” he said and Arthur nodded.

“I'll call them right now so they can get on the next flight,” he said before leaving Ariadne alone in the living room with Cobb. She smiled at him before he looked up and watched her carefully. .

“How are things?” he asked and she blinked once.

“Oh, they're going well. We apparently have quite a reputation which is one of the reasons why we got pulled into this. Just a lot of jobs and traveling really,” Ariadne said and Cobb gave her a sideways glance.

“That wasn't what I was talking about,” he said and without meaning to she blushed.

“Oh, that's going well too. You know him, it takes time for him to open up, and I still don't think he trusts me completely, but baby steps. I'm patient,” Ariadne said twisting the hem of her shirt and not looking into the extractor’s eyes. Cobb could read people and the thought of him reading into anything she said was not something she wanted.

“There is a guestroom down the hall that you can have and, depending on your sleeping arrangements, the couch is a pull out,” Cobb said and she nodded, surprised that he did not offer any more insight on Arthur or try to pry more information out of her. Arthur walked back into the room and seemed to be having an argument with someone on the phone. Cobb nodded and walked out of the room leaving the two of them alone. Arthur finally hung up, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before releasing it.

“Let me guess; you were talking to Eames.”

Arthur groaned. “I didn't want to give specifics over the phone so trying to get him to fly to LA on short notice was not exactly something he was thrilled about. Yusuf wasn't thrilled either until I offered to pay for his plane tickets and Eames said he 'wouldn't give me the satisfaction' and then hung up. I need to call Jim and find some way to get information on the mark without giving away any locations.” He visibly winced in pain. “I have a pounding headache right now though.” Ariadne stood up, took his hand and smiled a little.

“We've been traveling non-stop since we left Rome. You, we, need sleep. You're no use to anyone if you're sleep deprived and you know that; we've been down that road,” she said and he nodded releasing a deep breath. “Come on.” Arthur did not resist as she gently led him down the hallway. Both of their bags and the PASIV were sitting in the middle of a nice guest bedroom with a small bathroom off to the side and a large bed in the middle. It was not until Ariadne saw the bed that she realized just how tired she really was. They did not say much to each other as they each unpacked their bags. Ariadne stripped down to her pajamas and a tank top as usual and Arthur pulled on his normal sweats and an undershirt. As he folded his things she could not help herself as she stopped to admire him. While he was cool and calculating there was something about the way Arthur moved that was as smooth as his suits. It was like he never hesitated; even the little actions were well thought out and planned. He looked up and saw her watching and Ariadne blushed, looking away.

She did not fight when she felt arms wrap around her and Arthur pulled her close. She could feel him against her, his breath on the back of her neck. Ariadne tried to slow her pounding heart and even out her breathing but when he put a soft kiss on the back of her neck she stopped trying. She leaned into him and closed her eyes, loving the feeling of him holding her. Arthur placed soft kisses along the edge of her shoulders and neck while moving her hair out of the way. Ariadne leaned back so she could look him in the eye. She wanted to say something, she wanted to tell him that this was not his fault, that even if it was she did not care, but the words would not come. Instead Ariadne moved from his arms, pulled him close and kissed him hard putting as much feeling behind it as she could. Arthur walked backwards and fell back onto the bed taking her with him. She leaned over him, searching his eyes for some indication hinting at what was going on in that head of his. Ariadne could only decipher one thing behind those dark eyes: that Arthur did not want to be alone in this fight. And when she leaned down and kissed him again she hoped that it was enough to convey that he wasn't and he never would be.


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur woke early as the sun was barely coming up. The house was silent and he assumed everyone was still asleep. Carefully he eased out of bed so as not to wake Ariadne .He gathered some clothes from his bag and crept into the bathroom to change. As he changed from his pajamas to his familiar suit Arthur could not help but wonder what they were getting themselves into. He had had this same pit in his stomach feeling when they took on the initial Fischer job for Saito. That feeling that something was off about the entire enterprise and that somewhere along the line things were going to go horribly wrong. Using gel and water he slicked his hair back and straightened his clothes, standing tall and trying to keep everything in order.

He took his phone off of the end table in the bedroom and walked out thankfully without waking Ariadne. In his other hand he held the card with a single phone number written on it. Even this business card gave away nothing about this man’s intentions. As he walked outside Arthur wondered if maybe they had pegged Fischer completely wrong during the inception. He had seemed like a halfway decent person and not someone who would use dirty tactics to get what he wanted. There had been a sense of urgency though when he seemed to accept that his father wanted him to be his own man but that did not seem like something that would cause him to use blackmail. At least not against the people he wanted to hire to work for him. When blackmail was involved it usually instilled a sense of resentment that could easily ruin a job.

The backdoor to the yard was open and Arthur walked outside, closing it quietly behind him. Staring at the number for a bit longer he finally dialed it and waited as it rang a few times. By the third ring he was almost hopeful that the line would be disconnected and this whole thing would blow over. He could take Ariadne back to Rome and he would shut his phone off to jobs for a while and--

“Hello, Arthur, I was wondering when you were going to call me back,” Jim's voice said on the other end; he sounded amused.

“If I thought I had any other choice, believe me, I wouldn't have,” Arthur said, trying to keep his voice as even as possible.

“I'm sure. I suppose this is the part where we get down to business since I'm assuming you going to LA suddenly was a sign of you running back to your master.” Jim's words hit a nerve that Arthur did not even know existed. He wanted to defend himself, say how wrong this stranger was, but he held his tongue. Professional, he was going to stay professional, even if this other man stooped to to petty insults.

“Yes, this is the part where you tell me exactly what is going on,” he said and was surprised at how even his voice was despite the fact that he was angry.

“Things like this cannot be said over the phone; you know that. We're going to have to meet again. I'm sure you're thrilled,” Jim said and Arthur ground his jaw a bit.

“Ecstatic. I'm assuming you already have a location planned?” he asked and there was an extremely patronizing laugh on the other end of the line.

“Of course, and I'm assuming you're going to come alone since you don't want your lady friend or Cobb to get in the middle if anything should get messy,” Jim said.

“I'm glad we're both on the same wavelength,” Arthur replied and there was a pause on the other end; he thought for a moment they had been disconnected.

“Never assume we're on the same wavelength, boy,” Jim warned and his patronizing tone was suddenly serious. “We're going to need a quieter place to talk. There is a cafe downtown called Lost Souls Cafe; be there at noon sharp and we'll discuss our next step in this agreement.” The line went dead and Arthur stood still for a moment calming himself down. Yusuf was in Mombasa and that travel time was nearly twenty six hours so he would not be arriving until late tonight. Eames was coming from London and the absolute earliest he would be able to get in would be around noon. There was no way he was going to risk Ariadne or Cobb's lives to go to this meeting. If there was anyone he would have been willing to go with it would have been Eames, despite how much he did not want to admit it, but it looked like he was on his own. The hardest part, he decided, was going to be convincing Ariadne and Cobb to stay behind.

For the rest of the morning Arthur tried to hide the fact that he had made the phone call at all. When everyone woke up he gladly let Cobb and Miles make breakfast because he was still capable of ruining toast somehow. Ariadne emerged several hours later no doubt still suffering from jet lag. The severity of the situation made it hard for Arthur to even notice how exhausted he really was. Phillipa and James seemed to notice that he was not entirely with it and spent the entire morning showing Ariadne every part of the house. It was around ten thirty when Cobb caught his eye and gestured that they step outside. Standing, the two of them walked outside and closed the door to the porch.

“So, did you call that guy?” Cobb asked and for half a second he contemplated lying.

“Yes, early this morning,” Arthur replied and that earned him a nasty look from his former partner.

“And why haven't you said anything?”

“Because he wants to meet in person. There is no way I'll risk making those kids orphans or Ariadne--” Arthur cut himself off and cleared his throat. “—anyway, I'm going alone and I didn't want either of you to worry. At least not until I get more information. I need to go downtown anyway and find a spot for us to set up base camp.”

“She isn't going to like you going alone again,” Cobb said crossing his arms across his chest and Arthur nodded.

“I know she won’t but I just can’t have her with me while I meet with this guy. y. I've met a lot of point men in my day Cobb but this guy is something different. I don't know what it is about him but I think the only person who could see eye to eye with him is me.” There was a brief silence before Cobb nodded and tossed Arthur a set of car keys.

“Downtown is going to be a mess as usual so you should leave soon,” Cobb said giving him a small nod before opening the door back to the house. Ariadne looked up from the pile of toys in front of her and looked at him quizzically but Arthur smiled at her.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Going to look for a space for us to work. I don't think you can design mazes with Phillipa wanting to braid your hair every ten minutes,” he lied flawlessly. Ariadne looked at him and he thought that perhaps she could see through his façade but she nodded and flashed a smile.

“All right, have a good afternoon,” she said before turning back to the toys and keeping James occupied. Cobb walked him to the door before slipping him a 9MM, a belt holster and whispered that he needed to watch his back. Arthur did not say anything; he merely walked out the front door, checked the gun to see that it was loaded, clicked the safety into place, switched his belt with the belt holster, hid the gun safely away and climbed into the car. As Arthur drove away from the house he did not look back.

The drive to downtown LA was annoying because if there was one thing Arthur could not stand it was people who were too wrapped up in themselves. This town was a crowning achievement of what happened when egos were left unchecked. He knew he was one of the best but it did not give him a sense of superiority. This was something he had made sure of over the years. When someone's ego got too big they tended to make mistakes. Arthur did not like making mistakes and he was going to do everything he could to make sure nothing on this job went wrong because he overlooked a piece of key information. Not again. The little cafe came into view and he found a decent place to park on the street, paying the outrageous parking meter fee. The gun was concealed but he did not make much of an effort to cover it as well as he could, though he did button up his jacket, because Jim would know he was armed the moment he saw him.

Pushing the door open it took Arthur very little time to find Jim sitting in a corner reading a paper. It was not until he sat at the table that the older man looked over the edge of his reading before setting it aside. For a moment it seemed like Jim was sizing him up before he smiled.

“On time, a little early even, I wouldn't expect anything less of you, Arthur,” Jim said leaning back in his chair. “I also thought you would enjoy the irony in this place's name.”

“Last time I checked there was a job offer somewhere in these conversations,” Arthur said sick of playing this game. “So either explain what it is or I'll come back later when you're not feeling so flippant .” Jim's smile faded into a dark expression and now he was all business. Reaching into a bag he slid a folder across the table to Arthur. Inside there was a picture of an older woman with bright red hair and a wicked smile.

“Her name is Susana Mitchell. She is the idea person of the company that she works for and there are rumors that she knows how to prevent Mr. Fischer's new company from being a success. Somewhere in her mind is a secret that might bring down my client’s entire company before it even starts. Mr. Fischer wants to know what that information is,” he said flatly. Arthur looked over the papers and discovered that this was not their usual sort of mark.

“It says here that she shows signs of extreme paranoia and that she has a bodyguard with her at all times. She is highly trained in all aspects of keeping herself safe including martial arts, weapons and the threat of extraction.” He looked up at Jim and narrowed his eyes. “So you want us to go into the mind of a potentially unstable person whose subconscious is not only trained but whose mind might contain other hidden surprises.”

“Mr. Fischer did not request I get the best for no reason,” Jim said leaning forward before looking rather malevolent. “Why does the setting matter? It's not like you have a choice.”

“Does Fischer know this is how you do business?” Arthur asked and he creased his eyebrows . “My research shows that Robert Fischer is a man that usually does things by the book. You're not exactly living up to that standard.”

“Don't worry about me, boy, you should focus on the task at hand,” Jim said laughing. “Not that it matters much; I did all of the work for you. All you need to do now is sit around and make it look like you're working.” He stood to leave. “Keep your phone on, we're going to need to meet again. After all, I'm sure you'll want to meet who you're working for.”

“How do I even know you're going to keep the so-called 'leverage' you have on us to yourself after this?” Arthur said turning around in his chair. “I want to know what you have.”

“Who are we talking about here, Arthur? You or some other member of your old team? There were rumors all over the world about some of the greatest doing something big and while I don't know what that is, I do have enough dirt from your previous jobs to keep you in check. And I guess you're just going to have to hope I uphold my end of the deal,” Jim said without turning around but Arthur was not going to let him walk away without more information. As he was standing to follow his eyes caught the discarded cup left on the table. When he looked over his shoulder again Jim was lost in the crowd. Taking a napkin he carefully picked the cup up and asked for a to-go bag from the desk. There were not many people that did not have their fingerprints somewhere on file.

For the rest of the day Arthur went from place to place and tried to find a location where they could work in relatively quiet surroundings without someone in the city bothering them. What he finally ended up choosing was the top floor of an old office building. There was only one entrance that was off to the side in an alley. There was no way anyone could get the drop on them without alerting them to the intruder’s presence beforehand. The location for their work was probably the only thing he felt certain of. Arthur also knew as soon as he locked the door to the building that someone was waiting for him around the corner. He also had a pretty good guess of who it was so his gun was already in hand when Jim moved out of the shadows. They stood only a few feet apart with guns pointed at each other’s chest.

“I thought we weren't on the same level and yet here we are,” Arthur said narrowing his eyes. “Give me one good reason not to shoot you right now.”

“Aside from the fact that you'd die as well? How noble of you; that set of rules you live by is going to get you killed one of these days. Not everyone has a work ethic like you do,” Jim said but he did not smile despite the fact that his voice was mocking. “Now give me the coffee cup.”

“You mean the one you left behind with your fingerprints all over it? I thought about just using the file but that's passed through too many hands. You and the sixteen year old who made you the coffee are the only one's who touched that cup. I don't think so,” Arthur replied holding the gun steady. “How are you going to tell Fischer that one of the people he hired to extract information is dead? I bet you won't get paid a dime.” The two of them stood at a stalemate for what felt like a long time. Any moment someone could come around the corner and see two people pointing guns at each other. Before long the cops would get involved and there would be no easy way out of that mess. The sound of another gun being cocked broke the silence.

“I'd lower your weapon and take about three steps forward if I were you,” an all too familiar voice said as Eames eased Jim further into the alley. “You can drop your gun while you're at it.” The other man obliged but never broke eye contact with Arthur.

“I've been doing this longer than you, I have more experience than you do and I do what needs to be done to get my information no matter what it takes. I'm the best and you should never forget that,” Jim said.

“If you're the best why did Fischer ask you to hire me?” Arthur asked and he thought he saw a flinch like he had hit a nerve. The menacing glare that followed was all the confirmation he needed. Some line had been crossed and he was looking at an entirely different opponent.

“You'd do best to run along now,” Eames said pushing Jim out of the alley and watching him disappear around a corner. “Well that might be the first time I've saved your ass, well, ever.”

“I hardly needed saving,” Arthur muttered putting away his own gun and brushing by Eames but a strong hand grabbed his upper arm.

“I hope you're not underestimating that man. He has the look of someone who has taken a life or two,” Eames said in a dark voice.

“I'm going to find out exactly what we're dealing with and I'm going to take the steps needed. After I finish researching the mark I'm leaving the rest to all of you and I'll take care of that man,” Arthur said, pulling his arm away from Eames. “We have work to do, let's go.” He thought he heard Eames make some sort of comment behind his back but he ignored it.


	4. Chapter 4

Ariadne was furious when Cobb let it slip that Arthur was going to meet Jim alone again. When he tried to explain why she ignored him and spent the better part of the day trying to distract herself by playing with the kids or sketching in a notepad. Cobb knew that she was mad and he did not say much to her. Miles talked to her about school and whether she ever thought of going back. She lied to him, saying that she was considering it although really she had no desire to do so. If anything she just wanted to sit in on his lectures and listen without any expectation other than learning. Ariadne had a feeling that if she asked if she could do just that he would find a way to make it work but she knew that would also mean staying in one place for a semester. She was not sure if Arthur even knew how to take time off from work.

The sound of a car pulling up in the driveway made Ariade jump to her feet faster than she thought possible, the sketchpad falling to the floor. She did not care that she was the first one to the door or that she was outside before anyone else had even reached the door. There were two cars, not one, and Eames grinned at her as he got out of the second car. She smiled warmly back but kept her eyes on Arthur. There was a cup in a plastic bag in his hand, a folder, and a set of keys. Ariadne knew just by looking at him that he was processing information and that it would take an earthquake to snap him out of this state of mind. So she did not accost him in any way as he brushed by her into the house and she took the time to hug Eames despite knowing he would turn it against her somehow.

“You look lovely as expected,” he said looking her over and it made Ariadne blush which made him laugh a little. He rubbed her arms before he looked serious as he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “We need to talk later, just you and me.”

“I'm glad I lived up to your expectations,” she said nodding in agreement with his last statement. The two of them walked into the house and Eames shook Cobb's hand, giving him a smile and a pat on the shoulder. Phillipa and James seemed a little intimidated by him until he made two giant lollipops appear out of nowhere and suddenly he had two new best friends. When the team asked Arthur about the file he held up a hand to silence them both, said he was working and that they would go over it when Yusuf joined them. Eames was about to argue until Cobb took him aside and explained what Ariadne already knew; this was not the time to push him. The chemist had called and said that his flight was getting in at midnight and that despite jet lag he did not want to wait until morning for an explanation.

Ariadne sketched as she watched Arthur huddle over a desk. Eames was helping him lift a fingerprint off of the coffee cup. She could only assume that it had come from this man whom Fischer had hired to hire them. It seemed like a very redundant thing to do but at the same time he was trying to start a new company and could not risk his image being compromised in any way. If something did go wrong the paper trail would not lead back to the true client. When the print was set Arthur took a picture and loaded it into a database she was 120% sure he was not supposed to have access to. Pictures began to fly by and he rubbed his temples. Arthur got headaches when there was a puzzle he could not solve or if there was information that was eluding him and considering the situation Ariadne knew he probably had a full blown migraine. As the faces flew by on the screen he finally stood and walked outside into the night without a word.

Ariadne glanced at Eames to see if he wanted to talk to her now but he shook his head making it the barest of movements. Cobb was watching her as well and they all seemed to be waiting for something. “What?” she asked and none of them said anything. She knew what they thought she should do. “All right, all right, I'm going,” she said before she stood and walked out the backdoor. Arthur was sitting on the steps of the porch massaging his temples. He did not flinch when she sat down next to him and that made Ariadne smile to herself. A year ago he would have turned in a state of paranoia to see who was behind him. “You know if you think any harder smoke might actually start to come out of your ears.”

“Very funny,” Arthur muttered without looking up. “Did Cobb send you out to check on me?” Ariadne scoffed.

“Without words more or less. I've seen you in this state before and I know you don't like to be bothered. I'm just surprised Cobb didn't know that,” she said leaning back on her hands and looking out at the night sky. It was too bright despite the late hour, the city making it impossible to see the stars at night.

“He has seen me like this many times, he just never caught on that I like to be alone with my migraines,” Arthur said before he sat up. “I feel like I'm missing something obvious. There is some detail I overlooked that will help everything fall into place.”

“Everything doesn't always fall into place, Arthur. Sometimes it just falls apart and all we can do is pick up the pieces and go from there,” Ariadne said and he turned to look at her; she smiled. “That's all you can do sometimes.” Arthur moved so he was leaning over her just a little looking down into her eyes.

“If Cobb hadn't asked you to come out and talk to me, would you have?” he asked and Ariadne smiled.

“Of course not,” she said and Arthur leaned down kissing her very gently. It was soft, like a whisper, and not nearly enough for her tastes. Ariadne moved so she was sitting upright and leaned in close kissing him deeper before slipping her tongue into his mouth. Arthur's arms were around her waist pulling her closer and she was about to sink her fingers into his hair when he pulled away quickly. She was about to ask why when the sound of the door opening behind her drew Ariadne's attention.

“Yusuf's plane is landing and we need to go pick him up,” Cobb said sticking his head out the door. “Are either of you coming?”

“I need to get back to work,” Arthur said before he stood and brushed by Cobb who looked a little surprised. Ariadne smiled just a little before pushing herself to her feet and walking back into the house.

“I'll stay here too but I think you,” she pointed to Arthur, “need to get off that computer before your minds melts.”

“I have more work that--” he started.

“--that can wait. Just go and try to give that brain of yours a rest,” Ariadne said and he just stared at her for what felt like a long time. She could feel Eames and Cobb watching the scene with keen interest but she ignored them.

“Fine,” Arthur said after a long silence. He stood and pulled on his suit jacket before following Cobb out of the house. As soon as the door closed Eames clapped slowly.

“That was impressive, my dear, very impressive,” he said smirking. “There are few things in this world that can pull Arthur away from his work like that.”

“The computer is still running the fingerprint anyway,” Ariadne said waving him off before sitting down on one of the couches in the living room. “Besides, you said you needed to talk to me so talk to me. What can't you say in front of Cobb?” The smirk faded as Eames walked over and sat next to her, leaning forward so his elbows were on his knees.

“This man who is blackmailing us has taken an interest in our point man,” Eames said and his voice was slow and careful. “It's like there is some sort of power struggle between the two of them. When I found Arthur today the two of them were having a stand off.”

“Wait, a stand off? As in with guns threatening to kill each other?” Ariadne asked and he nodded.

“Yes and I'm pretty sure our boy hit a serious nerve when he mentioned something about Fischer and who was hiring who. Is that what this is about? Is Fischer trying to hire us?” Eames asked and all she could do was nod. “Well that's out of the question. Dreams can be like repressed memories; all of a sudden you remember something you thought you forgot. Working with him is way too risky and Arthur knows that. Why would he agree to this and why is he trying to drag the rest of us into it?”

“This man, he calls himself Jim, says he has leverage over all of us. Arthur won't give me any details but it must have been convincing enough that he agreed to the job.” Ariadne looked at her hands on her lap, twisted in the fabric of her shirt. “What you're trying to tell me is that Arthur's in danger from this man.”

“Yes and that means you are too. Like I said, I know this type, and they attack sideways through friends and family. So that means you're going to have my watchful eye on your back at all times.” Ariadne looked up and saw that he was not implying anything by it so all she could do was nod. “On a lighter note I want to know if Arthur ever got around to admitting that he fancied you or if you just had to jump him.” That earned the forger a slap on the arm and a death glare but Ariadne told him the brief version of the breakfast story leaving out the more interesting details. Eames had an odd smile on his face when she said that Arthur had asked her to be his partner. They talked about little things until the sound of a car pulling up to the house silenced both of them. Cobb, Arthur and Yusuf all walked into the house, closing and locking the door behind them. Yusuf greeted her with a smile but they did not hug. They exchanged a few handshakes and formalities before everyone sat down in the family room.

“This is the last time we're meeting at this house,” Cobb said before anyone could say anything. Ariadne was not surprised; she would not want this job near her family either.

“There is a hotel within walking distance of the place I found us. I'll give you all directions when we leave tonight,” Arthur said.

“Well this is fantastic and all but can we please get to the point here? Flying halfway around the world for a tea party isn't exactly my idea of fun,” Eames said and she knew he was playing oblivious for a reason; if he hinted that he knew anything then he would have to talk about the stand off in the alley. Arthur explained everything that had happened in detail from the first meeting in St. Peter's Plazza to the meeting in the cafe. He neglected to mention the incident in the alley and judging by his demeanor Eames was not going to say anything either. This was also the first time she got a look at the mark and realized how risky this job was going to be.

“This is a suicide mission,” Cobb said as he closed the file. “The dream is going to be dangerous by itself but this woman is someone who would kill us for this without a second thought.”

“I know,” Arthur said in a flat voice. “And I'm still looking for a way to get out of this job but I’ve got nothing so far. I just can't find anything on this man. I can't find anything that he might have over all of us either. Word about all of us working together last year got around somehow and he seems to think he has something over each of us because we're all considered “the best” in our respective fields.”

“Ever since our last job together I've been getting a lot more orders for chemicals than before,” Yusuf said. “I figured some word had to have gotten out.”

“Arthur and I have been working on jobs for the past year or so and apparently have quite a reputation. I think we were the ones that caught Fischer's eye to be honest,” Ariadne said and Cobb nodded.

“To an extent; Arthur and I did a lot of jobs after Mal died and Eames is well known as well. Even if we didn't know each other beforehand I have a feeling we would be in this same place right now under slightly different circumstances,” he said and he looked deep in thought. Ariadne glanced at Arthur whose eyes were glued to the laptop screen again. She could practically see the faces flashing past in his eyes. There was an uneasy silence before the laptop made a beep. Everyone turned and looked at Arthur as he stared at the screen and looked around.

“His name is Walter Larson,” he began. “His criminal record includes fraud, kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder. He apparently fell off of the government’s grid about three years ago.”

“I've heard of Walter,” Eames said. “To say he's a point man like our lovable Arthur,” that earned him a dark glare, “would be a bit of a stretch. We're talking about a person with zero moral compass. One of those willing to do anything to get the job done.”

“We've agreed to do the job so this job should be done,” Cobb said and Ariadne saw Arthur tense. “Now we really just need to figure out a way to deal with Fischer so we don't trigger any memories.”

“What about Saito?” Yusuf asked. “He's a businessman before our employer and well before a comrade. How is he going to react to this?”

“I'd say we keep it from him but he'd find out somehow. Be up front I suppose,” Eames said. Ariadne yawned without even thinking twice about it and it seemed like enough to convince everyone else that it was time to turn in. Arthur gave the address to Eames and Yusuf who agreed to take one car before leaving. Arthur went to gather their bags and Cobb whispered to her that she needed to look out for him. She knew what he meant but did not acknowledge that it happened at all. After giving the address to Cobb the two of them walked out of the house and climbed into their rental car with Arthur carrying their bags and the PASIV.

The hotel they were staying at was hardly lavish but it was nice enough that Arthur did not stand out too much in his suit. Ariadne was not surprised to find that he had made reservations for all of them earlier that day. Nevertheless the looks he got from Eames and Yusuf when he collected all of their room keys was entertaining if nothing else. Their hotel room was modest enough and when they both walked into the room Ariadne could hear Eames snickering from the hallway before Arthur kicked the door shut.

“We need to get some sleep,” he said loosening his tie as he peeled away each layer of his suit.

“We do but why don't we dream first?” Ariadne asked and he stopped what he was doing to look at her.

“You want to go under? Just the two of us?” Arthur asked. She smiled and walked over, taking his hand and entwining their fingers.

“We haven't shared a dream, just the two of us, in a long time. Don't worry; we'll go into my head,” Ariadne said pulling him toward the bed. He sat down on the edge and she kissed him briefly before she picked up the PASIV and put it in the middle of the bed.

“You're the architect; you should build the dream,” Arthur said as she drew out two lines.

“True, but you don't want me in your head right now, do you.” Ariadne did not need to ask him the question, she merely stated it, because they both knew it was true. “Besides, you never build for me. Let's see what you can get up to in five minutes.” The familiar statement made Arthur smile as he lay down on the bed facing her, the machine between them, as she set the timer. When the lines were set she was about to hit the button when he leaned over and kissed her before turning the machine on. As the chemicals raced through her body Ariadne felt everything start to fade and the last thing she remembered was the feeling of Arthur's lips against hers.


	5. Chapter 5

Ariadne blinked and realized she was standing on a sidewalk in what appeared to be a small mountain town. Her projections were breezing by and ignoring them which was a comfort even if they were her own. The sky above was a bright blue and the sun felt warm against her skin. Looking down the road, she assumed it was the main street, shops and restaurants lined side by side. The main street was on a steep hill and she stood on the top looking down.. It was quiet and it made her feel calm. A hand in hers made Ariadne look up and she saw Arthur standing next to her. The detail was very impressive for someone who rarely designed dreams and she almost felt proud that he was showing this to her.

“I've been working on this for years,” he said as the two of them began to walk down the main street. “It's roughly based on a town I visited when I was young and how it made me feel. There was nothing but peace in that place in the mountains.”

“Building from a memory?” Ariadne asked and Arthur shook his head.

“No, that place is perfection compared to this. In dreams we can create and do impossible things but the real world is something that can't truly be replicated.” He stopped and looked at her. “Like Rome, for example, do you think you could have made something like that?”

“No, not even close, not even in a lifetime,” she said before nodding. “The real world, despite how nice this can be, is just so much better than anything we could create in here.”

“Things in the real world, the little things in cities and landscapes, are created by thousands of minds or years of erosion.” He squeezed her hand. “This is where I like to escape when things up there get overwhelming. No one has ever seen this.” Ariadne could not find words to explain how honored she felt to see what he perceived to be a paradise outside of the real world. So the two of them walked around for a little while until Arthur suddenly turned and lead her around a corner. Ariadne had her back to a wall that felt warm from the sun as he put his hands on both sides of her pinning her there. She caught the eyes of her projections looking at them before Arthur stole her lips into a kiss. That seemed to settle her mind enough as she hooked her fingers around his belt loops, pulling him closer. When his lips traveled to her neck, Ariadne moved her head to the side, exposing more flesh, loving the feeling of his body against her, his hands finding her hips before moving up her shirt and digging his nails into her ribs.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling of the hotel. The timer on the PASIV was flashing zeros but Ariadne could not stop her pounding heart. She pulled the line out of her wrist and looked over at Arthur. His dark eyes watched her as he pulled the line from his own wrist and closed the case. She looked away and tried to focus on the ugly carpet in front of her to try and get the dream out of her head. They were back in the real world and that meant that Arthur was uptight and worried about everything again. That relaxed man she saw in the mountain town that did not exist was not present in the real world. It broke her heart a little knowing that the only place he could really relax was a dream. Ariadne stood and pulled the bishop out of her pocket clenching it tight in her hand before she walked to the bathroom.

The florescent light was almost headache inducing as she set the piece down and tipped it over. Somewhere in the back of her head Ariadne wanted it to fall wrong so she could go out there and see a relaxed Arthur, an Arthur that was not plagued with pressure and guilt, someone she so rarely saw that he seemed like an entirely different person. The sound of footsteps coming toward the bathroom made Ariadne snatch up the bishop and hold it tight in her hand. When Arthur walked in she saw his hand closed in a fist and she just knew that he was clenching his die the same way she had clutched her totem only moments before.

“I know you said that the dreams can't even compare to reality, that a dream can never be as amazing as the real thing, but there is one thing in the dreamworld that I would take to reality in a heartbeat,” she said refusing to look at him.

“Can I ask what that is?” Arthur asked though it sounded like he did not want to hear the answer.

“The only place you relax is in the dream. It's the only place where your shoulders don't look like they're going to break or that something little is going to set you off. The only time you relax around me is there and that's only when it's the two of us. When you know nothing can go wrong, when you don't need to over think anything, and that seems like the only time you're willing to let your guard down.” Ariadne clenched the tile on the counter as she realized how much it hurt. “The only place you truly trust me is in a place that you just said doesn't even compare to reality.” In the mirror she could see him standing near her but not near enough to touch. His face was completely devoid of emotion and he was not looking at anything in particular.

“I'm sorry,” Arthur whispered after what felt like a long time. He turned and walked out of the bathroom and the next thing Ariadne heard was the sound of the door to their room opening and then closing quietly. She had told Cobb that she was patient, that she was willing to wait for him to let her in at his own pace, but the knowledge that the only times she could ever remember him being open and calm were in the dreams was devastating. The only thing he said was 'I'm sorry' before he left. Ariadne clenched her bishop tightly in her hand before she walked out of the bathroom and crawled into bed. She could not be bothered to change, she barely had the energy to kick off her shoes, and she drifted before she fell asleep with her bishop in hand.

\---

Arthur knew it was stupid to walk out of the room like he did yet at the same time he really could not think of anything else to do. She was right, she was completely right, and he resented himself for that. The moment she had agreed to be his partner he had started a mental countdown before she gave up and walked away. Working with her, being with her, it was different from anything else he had ever experienced before. He went through the world with superficial relationships where he did not trust anyone much if at all. The only reason he worked with Cobb as well as he did was because Cobb had been too distracted by Mal and trying to get home and he had not noticed the distance. Mal had noticed and not long before she died she had confronted him. She had asked why after all this time he did not trust them. Arthur had had no answer then and if pressed again now it would be the same.

They were undertaking a dangerous mission while being blackmailed by a person who was probably even more dangerous and every logical bone in his body told him that going outside alone at night was a terrible idea. For half a second he thought about going to see Eames or Yusuf but ruled both of those out right away. There was no way he could even begin to explain why Ariadne was upset and why he suddenly felt like he could not sleep in the same room as her. Arthur walked outside and tried to loosen the knot that was in his shoulders. Did he really want to trust someone completely? He shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk with no real direction. For as long as he could remember there had been no one he trusted unconditionally. There were times when he felt like he did not need to be as guarded but there was always a few feet between him and the other person metaphorically. This method had worked for his entire life and for some reason he had thought it would work with Ariadne as well.

That was a lie and he knew it. Arthur had thought that with time he would feel calm around her and that it would just fall into place like it was supposed to. People, he decided, only had so much patience for bullshit before giving up. Maybe Ariadne had reached her limit and after this job she would leave. The thought of never seeing her again made his stomach turn to the point that he thought he was going to be physically ill. He did not want to lose her but he also knew that he just could not give her what she wanted. She wanted the man he was in the dream when there was nothing but the two of them with no limits. It was easy to be relaxed and calm there but it was such a different situation in the real world. They were nothing alike and Arthur resented himself for letting her see that side of him. If he had kept that locked away then she would not have lost patience with him just yet. He would have had more time with her before it all fell apart.

A quick glance at his watch and Arthur saw that it was nearly three in the morning. In a few hours his teammates would be sitting in the office space he had rented as they all got ready to do the job. Cobb would plan, Eames would find a way to gain the mark’s trust in the dream, Yusuf would mix his chemicals and Ariadne would build the level. In a few hours he was going to see her again after he had walked away. Arthur leaned against one of the buildings and looked around. He was not entirely sure where he ended up but he also knew his way back. He could rent another room and stay there. He could go to another hotel all together. He could leave the job to the rest of the team and deal with the immediate threat. Jiim/Walter, was right; he had done most if not all the work for him. It really left him with nothing to do.

Out of the corner of his eye Arthur saw someone walking down the street toward him with their head down. Mentally he looked over the person’s outline to see who it was. There was a good chance it was Jim, Walter, since he knew that he was watching them. Here he was standing in the middle of the road at three in the morning unarmed with an approaching enemy who had made it clear that he wanted him dead. Arthur wondered for a moment if he had some sort of death wish because he did not move as the person got closer. He did not turn to run and he did not try to duck out of sight. He just stayed right where he was as the person got closer and closer. It was a man now, he could tell, with their collar up and their head down so Arthur could not see their face. A car drove by and he saw a flash of dark hair that was going gray and he smiled.

“Out for a midnight stroll?” Walter asked as he approached; if he was armed he was not making it too obvious.

“Out to rip some people off for a few hundred, Walter?” Arthur asked taking a mental note at the way his opponent’s face changed.

“So you found my record. You must have access to some pretty impressive databases,” Walter said and Arthur shrugged. “So I'm going to propose to you the same question you asked me this afternoon,” a hand moved and he could see a gun flash in the streetlights, “give me one good reason I shouldn't blow you away right now.”

“I'm going to stick with my 'Fischer wants me to do the real work and not you' argument I had earlier,” Arthur said pushing himself away from the wall. “Could you kill me? Definitely. Will you? No, you won't, not yet anyway.”

“And why is that?” Walter asked and there was the sound of the gun cocking into place; he stared down the barrel of the gun and felt no fear.

“You know as well as I do that killing me will compromise the job and that the job comes first. If you're going to kill me it's going to be right after we turn in the ideas we extract,” Arthur said. “So why don't you just continue on your way so we can both do our jobs.” Walter stared at him for a long time before there was the click of a safety and the gun was out of sight. There was a dangerous look in Walter's eyes as he walked by. There was movement out of the corner of his eye and Arthur blocked a punch directed at his kidneys. Walter retreated and continued on his way before turning a corner, away from their hotel, and vanished. Arthur turned on his heels and walked back to the hotel. He managed to convince the night manager to give him another room. There was a moment in his head where he thought about sending a message to someone saying that he was in a different room.

Instead Arthur opened the door to the room, kicked it closed and lay down on the bed looking at his die. He rolled it once on the end table before setting an alarm and falling asleep.

\---

Ariadne woke from a nightmare she could not remember with a start. Drenched in a cold sweat as her heart raced she struggled to slow her breathing. Instinctively she reached over to the other side of the bed looking for Arthur and found that it was empty. Instead of her heartbeat slowing down it raced even faster. His suitcase, the PASIV and his laptop were all still there but there was no sign of him. A vise clenched her chest so tight that she was sure a twenty pound weight really had dropped on it. He had not come back, not even for his things, he had just left it all there without a word.

The sound of her phone ringing made Ariadne jump before picking it up and saying “hello” in a breathy voice.

“Are you okay?” It was Eames and he did not sound worried. “You must have overslept because we're all down here working.”

“All of you?” she asked as the weight on her chest slowly lifted.

“Yes, all of us,” Eames said as he lowered his voice considerably. “Arthur is here and he looks like he got no sleep. He didn't bring his laptop or the PASIV. Did something happen?” For a brief moment she considered opening up to Eames and telling him everything about the night before, telling him about their conversation that did not feel like a fight, that had resulted in Arthur walking out of their room at two in the morning without returning.

“He must have left early without telling me. His laptop and the PASIV are kind of buried by my stuff right now so he probably didn't want to wake me up,” Ariadne lied and she had never been more thankful that Eames was not there to look her in the eye. There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

“Well we're all here if you want to come down and work unless you want to be left alone,” he said.

“I'll be there in fifteen minutes,” she said quickly before hanging up. He was not hurt, not physically and probably not emotionally, but he was okay. Ariadne jumped out of bed, took a cold shower to try and calm herself down before she jumped into some clothes and grabbed all of the materials. She thought about whether she should say anything, she wondered if he was going to say anything, she contemplated if anyone else was going to say something. She was resigned to the fact that she would not let personal feelings into their work. Tensions were running high enough without drama within the group. There would be time for confrontation later; for now she had mazes to build.

The walk to the office building carrying three bags was a strong reminder that she needed to dress lighter for the summer. Pants, even with a t-shirt, was going to be too much to deal with and she was not even sure the place where they were working had air conditioning. Ariadne rounded the corner and found the alley that Arthur had talked about. What she was not expecting to find were three flights of stairs. The PASIV was a lot heavier than she thought it would be and she really did not want to carry it up the stairs. Fortunately she could hear the sound of footsteps coming down and she breathed a sigh of relief; gentleman Arthur would help her carry everything. A strong sense of defeat washed over her like a kick to the stomach when Eames emerged.

“You look like you could use a second set of hands,” he said. Ariadne nodded and handed over the PASIV. She flashed a smile before they walked up the stairs. If Eames had any suspicions, and she expected that he did because if there was anyone who could tell someone was lying it was him, he kept them to himself which she was more than grateful for. The top floor of the building was where they were going to work and she was a little disappointed that there was no sign of an air conditioner. There were, however, five large fans set up in various places all over the open space. Cobb and Yusuf both looked up when she entered but Arthur kept his eyes straight ahead. He was wearing different clothes. She realized he must have bought them and it made her chest ache that he would rather buy clothes than confront her, but he did seem a little disheveled.

Cobb led her over to a large table near one of the fans and said that she could work there if she wanted. Arthur was about five feet to her right before she nodded and said that it was fine. When Ariadne walked over and set his laptop down he muttered a 'thank you' but still would not meet her eyes. There was no way he was this hurt by their conversation, it still did not feel like a fight, and he just pushed it all away to work. All work all the time Arthur. So she did the only thing she could do: she walked over to her own desk, laid out a large piece of paper, and stared at it, waiting for a maze to come to mind. She could make the preliminary maze without knowing what the actual level was and judging by the way Arthur had not even looked up when she entered she assumed it was going to be some time before she got any information out of him.


	6. Chapter 6

It was well into the afternoon by the time Ariadne realized she was starving. They had been working since early in the morning so even if everyone else had eaten something they would be hungry now. There was polite conversation among them but no one seemed to be talking about anything in particular. No one seemed surprised that Arthur did not look up even when everyone else was engaged in conversation. When she looked up from her work Eames immediately caught her eyes before Ariadne was able to look away; she really did not want to deal with prying or toying right now. The longer Arthur sat in complete silence the more irritated she became. At this point they were usually bouncing information off of each other so she could design a maze that would work perfectly for the mark but now she was working with almost nothing.

“I think we all need something to eat,” Eames announced and that got everyone's, everyone except Arthur that is, attention. “So tell me what you need and I'll go get it.” Ariadne knew this was a ploy to get her alone but she also really had no choice; he knew something was amiss and he would confront her while they were out or she would insist to stay in and then not only Eames would know something was wrong but Cobb would as well. The thought of being interrogated by both of them was not something she was exactly looking forward to so she volunteered to go with him. When he asked what Arthur wanted to eat he waved Eames off and said that he was fine. No one pushed him for an answer before Eames gathered his car keys and the two of them walked down the stairs to his car. He was strangely silent and for half a second she hoped that maybe he did not suspect anything. “So what's going on with you and our lovely point man?”

“Nothing is 'going on' between us,” Ariadne said firmly hoping that if she denied it enough he would leave it alone.

“I haven't seen Arthur that introverted since, well, the first time I met him not long after Mal died. He wasn't exactly sharing his life story but it would take an idiot not to notice a difference between him twelve hours ago and him now,” Eames said as they drove along a road in downtown LA. “So what happened?” She tried to think of a good way to describe their conversation, the more annoyed she got by his distance the more convinced she was that it was a fight, without spilling the contents of the last year.

“I called him out on his bullshit and he walked out,” Ariadne said.

“Well Arthur does have his fair share of bullshit that's for sure. So he just walked out and didn't come back?” Eames asked and she nodded.

“I didn't even know if he was okay until you called. I was worried because you said he was in danger from Jim or Walter or whatever we're calling him,” she said and Eames nodded.

“I still believe that but I also think order and obsession is a common trait for a point man; it's what drives them to recheck information ten times. Killing, or even hurting, Arthur before the job is done is just something guys like that don't do. He'll wait until the second we turn in the extracted information. You can relax, for now at least, as far as that is concerned.” He stopped for a moment creasing his eyebrows together. “He probably isn't going to confront you.”

“I know he won't and at this point,” Ariadne hesitated as this realization dawned on her. “I'm not entirely sure I want him to. I've basically been sitting on my hands for a year waiting for something more to happen beyond the point of 'partner.'”

“You mean besides physical?” Eames said and she knew her cheeks were turning red. “Oh love you didn't think that no one noticed or knew did you? I'd assure you in some way that he just needs more time but I honestly don't know if that's true. Cobb might know but I'm not sure you want to confront him about it. He doesn't like tension and if he can fix it he will try. To be honest I really have no idea what to tell you to do. You're a smart girl, just go with what sounds right.” They more or less rode in silence as they went to various different places to pick up food. Ariadne picked out something that she knew Arthur liked even if he insisted he was not hungry. Eames did not push the issue further but it was nice knowing someone else was there who could try and draw attention away from them. When they pulled back up to the building she instantly felt annoyed again and as they walked up the stairs she wondered about her realization earlier and how much truth was really in it.

\---

Arthur looked up from his computer for the first time once Ariadne left. He felt stupid for avoiding and ignoring her but he could not come up with anything to say. What she had told him was completely true and he had no counter argument. You could not dispute facts and just saying 'you're right' seemed like it was in poor taste. When she was not looking he would glance at her. Over the course of the last few hours her shoulders got stiffer and her movement more intense; she was getting angry. There was nothing he could do to ease that anger so he did nothing. Instead Arthur poured everything he had into double checking all of Walter's work. He wanted it to be all wrong so he had some moral high ground but each detail came back exactly right down to the smallest thing. It gave him a hell of a headache and hurt his pride much more than he was willing to admit.

When she came back Arthur was not surprised when she placed one of his favorites on the table. Even in her anger Ariadne was a kind person and he admired her for that quality. Unable to meet her eyes he said a low 'thank you,' keeping his eyes fixed on the computer. Hours fell off the clock and before long it was nighttime. Everyone agreed that now was a good time to turn in; Cobb wanted to tuck his kids into bed if nothing else. So they all went their separate ways; Eames said he wanted to get drunk, Yusuf said he needed to check a supplier for more ingredients, Cobb was out the door and driving away before anyone else and Ariadne said she was going to head to bed early. The hotel was exactly where he wanted to go too but he just could not walk with her like that so he made up some bullshit excuse about how he wanted to check on something before they parted ways.

Arthur was not keen on wasting time so when he was sure Ariadne was back at the hotel he walked back and picked up his car. It was dinner time and that meant Susana Mitchell would be at her favorite restaurant flaunting how much money she had since she could eat there. She was easy to spot in the window with her red hair and when she talked she was very physical about it; her arms moved with every word and her facial expressions were very extreme. Despite all of this there was something about the way she moved that set him on edge. When she smiled it looked more like a smirk and there was no laughter in her eyes. Off to the corner he could see her body guard watching every inch of the room. If there was someone Eames could forge into it was that body guard and Arthur made a mental note to find out exactly who that man was.

He watched her for several hours since she seemed in no rush to finish eating. People would come and go from her table and she did not seem to care who she talked to as long as they listened, or pretended to listen, to every word she said. Susana liked to be the center of attention which really did not seem to make sense for someone who was so paranoid. When she finally paid her bill Arthur drove away before she exited the building. If he had been spotted she did not make it known and it was going to be difficult to try and get a sense of her. Eames would have to be very careful if he tried to watch her closely. He pulled into the parking garage of their hotel and leaned back against the chair. She was up there, just a few floors up, alone and with his things. He wanted to go see her, if nothing else because he really needed his suitcases, but also because they had to work together for this job. After that they could go their separate ways. They had to be civil.

Arthur stopped on her floor with the intent of doing something, he was not sure what, when he saw his bags sitting outside her door. He felt a little crushed by the action; she did not want to see him. He had to respect her wishes so he gathered his things and went back to his own room. He opened his laptop and connected to the internet that he was paying way too much for. If nothing else he would do some normal research on Susana. Just follow some articles and see what kind of business strategies she had, who she worked for, all of the little things. Her name came up connected to various different major companies but the one that caught his eye was the same one he wished he did not see; Susana Mitchell had worked for Saito's company five years ago. Arthur wished he could write it off as some major coincidence but that was against his very nature.

When he tried to dig a little deeper he found absolutely nothing, at least not in public records. If there was anywhere that would have the information he needed it was the database within Saito's company. He could get in, he knew he could, but to do so would create a very powerful enemy. Ariadne had suggested they be up front with the businessman but now he was not so sure. Susana was linked to Saito's company who had information that could bring down Fischer's empire before it even started. The connection made him nervous. They could confront Saito and be honest about the situation and find that he was not okay with their involvement and thus refuse to do the job which would cause Walter to leak all of his leverage or they could do the job and Saito would somehow get wind of it and suddenly turn into the worst kind of enemy, the kind that knew everything about them. Arthur decided to run it by Cobb and see what he thought.

He closed his laptop and fell back on the bed. He was tired, exhausted even, but he knew that he would not be able to sleep. Walter, Susana, Saito, they were all spinning in his head to the point that nothing short of a sledgehammer to the skull would fix it. Which was why he called Yusuf and asked for some of the sedative that could help him get a few hours of sleep. The chemist seemed reluctant at first but agreed when Arthur pointed out that he was useless without sleep. He took some of the mild version of the sedative and drifted into a heavy sleep within seconds.

It had been years since Arthur had had a dream naturally but even then he was restless. Something snapped him out of his chemical induced coma more than once and he had absolutely no idea what it was. If he was dreaming then he did not remember the dreams at all. Every time he lay back down to try and fall asleep Ariadne's words echoed in his head; he did not trust her, he did not feel safe around her, he did not let his guard down. What was more annoying than the repeated conversation was the knowledge that it was all true. That was infinitely worse than every time he woke up startled for no reason.

The next morning he woke up early and grabbed a quick breakfast downstairs before he headed to the office. It was before eight in the morning so Arthur knew he was going to be the first person there. When he opened the door to their office he just looked around; each of their desks displayed the part they played in this situation. Arthur looked over at Ariadne's table and admired her work; this maze she was building was impressive but it needed context. That was his job and he needed more time to work on it. So he prepared everything he had so far so he could pass the information onto the rest of the team even if that meant having to talk to Ariadne.

They all filed in and by ten everyone was there. Cobb took one look at him and said they all needed to listen to what Arthur had to say. When all eyes were on him, even Ariadne’s, her eyes trying to burn a hole into his clothes, he presented what he knew.

“So far everything that Walter gave us is checking out but I'm going to double check it again. Susana has the medical records to prove that she is unstable at the very least so her projections are going to be unpredictable. I do think that I have someone Eames can forge into that would help ease her mind: her bodyguard,” he said.

“Normally I would agree but I don't think that's the case. This woman is unstable and has been trained. If there if even the slightest thing off about her body guard she's going to notice because she subconsciously knows to look for those irregularities. I can mimic people but I can't become them,” Eames replied. “I don't think we're going to trick her with that at all.”

“She'll be even more suspicious if there's no body guard at all,” Cobb said and seemed to think on the matter for a moment. “Arthur's right; that body guard is the best shot we have at getting close to her in the dream.”

“What about the projections? Suddenly having a bunch of people shooting at us is going to be hard to hide,” Ariadne said and Arthur stole a quick glance at her; she was staring straight ahead.

“We'll just have to keep in constant motion throughout the maze. This woman is extremely paranoid so someone gunning to kill her is not that much of a stretch. If her guard makes it seem like someone is after her then she will probably go along with it,” Arthur replied without looking at her. Cobb was going to notice the tension between them soon enough. Eames already had, and probably had confronted Ariadne about it, but Cobb was in the dark for now.

“How many layers are we talking about? I need to know if I need to mix a sedative and if so how strong,” Yusuf asked.

“For now we're looking at one layer. Since she is so on edge I think you should add some relaxation components. It might ease her mind a bit. What we really need to do is find out how we can convince her to lock that secret up somewhere,” Cobb said.

“A panic room,” Arthur said and everyone, even Ariadne, looked at him.

“A panic room is perfect. The information will be in that room because it's safe and her mind will lock it in there. The projections will actually help us because it will convince her to go to the panic room,” Eames said nodding.

“Let's go with that for now. Ariadne, design a city and then a building for us to go to. We're going to try and get as much information about the interior of her home as possible,” Cobb said and everyone went back to their business. Arthur took Cobb by the arm and pulled him aside. “Is there something wrong?”

“You could say that,” he said before opening the file he had on Susana and pointing to where she worked.

“Oh this is not good,” Cobb said trying to think on the matter. “We're stuck no matter what we do.”

“I know,” Arthur said as he closed the file. “I didn't think telling everyone right away was what you would want. What should we do?”

“I'll figure it out. You need to get information on the interior of her home so we can make it as perfect as possible. If she realizes she's dreaming those projections are going to go crazy. Let's just hope she's as paranoid as we think she is; if she doesn't have a panic room we're going to have to come up with something different,” Cobb said before he walked away. The ever persistent headache returned and Arthur nearly fell into his desk chair. There had to be some way to see the inside of that woman's house without letting her know what they were doing. There had to be a way for Eames to observe the body guard without drawing attention to himself. And even if this panic room idea worked they had no possible clue where they were going to drug her. There was too much going on his head for Arthur to focus on one detail at a time. And even if he did maintain some sort of focus his thoughts always went back to Ariadne. He needed to get her out of his head if he was going to get any work done.

After trying and failing for several hours to get her out of his head Arthur looked at her. Her eyes were narrowed and she was drawing and erasing over and over again. She was focused on her work 100% and here he was hardly able to keep a straight thought. Ariadne was not thinking about him and that comfort alone was enough to get her out of his mind.

If Ariadne did not care then neither did he.


	7. Chapter 7

After several hours of sketching Ariadne sat back and took a deep breath. These mazes were the most complicated thing she had ever drawn. They had to be, she knew that, because they were going into a war zone. There would be no second chances when it came to this job. If they did not extract the information the first time then it would be all over. All of their exploits would be public and she would either spend the rest of her life on the run or in a cell. Neither option sounded like anything she really wanted to do. Ariadne decided it was time to clear her head and she announced her intentions to take a walk with a look shot at Eames that said 'alone.' He seemed to get the hint and no one stopped her. As she walked out the door she turned around and for a second thought Arthur was watching her. His head was down, eyes focused on his computer screen, and she decided it was just her imagination or wishful thinking and she really had no idea which one she wanted it to be.

So she walked into the heart of the city and loved the feeling of the cool breeze; their space was stuffy even with the windows open and the fresh air felt so nice. She turned and started walking toward the hotel because that was really the only route she knew in the city. Ariadne did not like the idea of getting lost in a place she did not know mostly because there was nothing worse than not being able to get somewhere you considered safe. So she would walk to the hotel and back, maybe more than once, and then go back upstairs and try not to resent every second she spent there.

It was as if every smile, every laugh, every moment of joy that she felt from the past year with Arthur was fading from existence. Those moments when she thought he was opening up to her were not exactly lies but more of a cover up. He might have been opening up but he did not trust her and that was enough to deter her for good. Ariadne wanted to confront him, she wanted him to confront her, but this stalemate they were in left some form of hope that what was broken could be mended. Sometimes things don't fall into place, she had told him not two days before, and all you can do is pick up the pieces. This was something that might have been broken from the start, could they really fix something that never existed in the first place?

Someone slamming into her shoulder and nearly knocking Ariadne off of her feet was enough to tear her away from her own thoughts. She muttered an 'excuse you too' under her breath before continuing along the sidewalk.

“So how are those mazes coming along, Ariadne?” a voice behind her said and she froze in place turning around very slowly. The man who had hit her had hair that was going gray and a crooked smile, and she knew the face instantly. It was Walter. “Oh don't look so surprised; it's not like I don't know where you have set up camp.”

“What do you want?” she asked suddenly glad for the distance between them. She understood why this man had Arthur so rattled; his eyes were a terrifying combination of stone cold and sick amusement.

“I just wanted to meet the person Arthur is so fond of,” Walter said and he shrugged. “Though why he was out at three in the morning last night I have no idea.”

“And it's none of your business anyway,” Ariadne said firmly but that only made the other man smile.

“Well that's to be expected. I'll figure it out anyway because that's what I do. I find every little detail about your life and write it down for all the world to see if I should choose to share it. That would complicate things, wouldn't it?” Walter asked.

“Arthur's going to find something on you and before long you're going to be the one begging us not to leak your information,” she spit out and the cold look on his face was enough to make her shiver.

“If he lives long enough,” he said and she knew then that this was the man's intentions. Walter meant every word that he said. He did not say anything else, he simply walked across the street and vanished down another road. Ariadne released a breath that she had not known she was holding and ran the rest of the way back to the building trying to calm her shaking hands. When she walked through the door breathing hard everyone looked up at her, even Arthur, and instantly he looked as if he knew what had happened.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Eames asked and he put his hands on her upper arms trying to get a good look at her.

“I saw him,” Ariadne whispered and everyone knew exactly who she was talking about. “He's watching us, he knows where we're staying and where we're working.” Arthur watched her with his blank expression for only a moment before he looked back down at his work. He did not try to comfort her in any way, he just sat there, and the only hug she got was from Cobb. She was safe among her teammates and she knew that. They would not let anything happen to her, she was sure of it, and she also knew that they would not let anything happen to Arthur either. After her nerves calmed down everyone went back to work in an uneasy silence. Arthur kept his eyes straight ahead despite all of the times she looked at him. There was something new in his features now, something she had never seen in him before, and it was almost eerie.

By late afternoon no one was in the mood to work anymore. So they packed up their things and locked the door behind them. Ariadne stepped out into the cool evening and suddenly longed for that stuffy office building because being out in the open made her nervous. Cobb wanted to get home as soon as possible and offered Yusuf a ride across town where he needed to pick up the supplies he had ordered the day before. So she stood on the side of the road with Eames and Arthur before they began to walk back to the hotel in silence. Arthur was trailing behind slightly before he took her arm and looked directly into her eyes. They were nothing like she had ever seen before; there was absolutely nothing behind them.

“I never cared about you,” he said, and it was like someone had just punched her in the stomach.

“You don't mean that,” Ariadne replied trying to keep her voice even.

“Arthur, don't do this--” Eames said before Arthur interrupted him.

“Eames, do yourself a favor and stay out of this.” His voice was hard and he never took his eyes off of her. “The only way to get the best jobs is to work with the best. I couldn't have the best extractor anymore so I took the best architect. So get any preconceived notions out of your head about what we never had.” With those words he released her arm and brushed by her and Eames without another word. Ariadne tried telling herself that she was not surprised, that she should have seen this coming, but that did not make the pit in her stomach feel any less heavy.

“You're a heartless son of a bitch,” she said and he only hesitated for a moment before continuing down the road. Ariadne refused to let herself cry and any hurt she felt was soon replaced with rage.

“He's only doing that to protect you,” Eames said carefully but she shook her head.

“He might not have meant every word but the point got across; he doesn't need or want me anymore and probably never did,” she said.

“You don't really think that,” he said, not making it a question. Ariadne shook her head and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

“I do, and once this job is over he can go wherever he wants for all I care,” she said before continuing down the street annoyed that she had to follow him to get where she needed to be. Eames did not say anything the rest of the way to the hotel but when she turned to go into her room he hugged her tight before kissing the top of her head. Ariadne did not say anything and neither did he; they both just walked into their respective rooms. The first thing she did was kneel in front of the end table and knock her bishop over. It fell just the way it was supposed to and the realization that it was not a dream made her stomach sink a bit. She was hurt, she was angry, and she wished she could get him out of her head for good.

\---

Arthur leaned heavily against the door in his hotel room. He half expected Eames to come down and clock him one and he knew he deserved it. What he had just done, what he had just said, was probably the worst thing he had ever done. After the way he had acted over their last year together he knew that she would take his words to heart. Knowing she would hate him would be enough to get him through the next few days now because she would be safer that way. It was a ruse if there ever was one but if it had any chance of keeping Walter away from her it was worth it. On his desk was the card Walter had given him in Rome and he picked it up and dialed the number before he could second guess himself.

“Arthur, you are aware that calling so suddenly without forewarning is considered rude. Besides, I was going to call you when Fischer wants to meet you,” Walter said and he sounded amused, no doubt with a smirk on his face.

“You stay away from my team,” Arthur said and the tone of his voice was surprising even to him; he sounded dangerous and he knew it.

“Oh really? If it gets to you why would I do that?” Walter asked after a brief chuckle.

“Because if they're rattled they can't get the job done. How do you think Fischer would react if I told him you are terrorizing the people he hired so they can't do their work? Exactly, that's what I thought. So here's the deal; you keep your distance and when this is all over we can sort out whatever disagreement we have. Otherwise I'm pulling out of this deal,” Arthur said without missing a beat.

“If you do that everyone will suffer,” Walter warned.

“I’ll take my chances with your leverage rather than have you torment innocent people.The next time you call me it's going to be to meet Fischer and the next time I see you will either be at that meeting or when this job is over. I'm not taking any more of these threats from you; either back off or I'll call off the job,” Arthur said and there was a long silence on the other end of the phone. He could only imagine how furious Walter was right now and how he would no doubt pay for it later but that was the last thing on his mind.

“Well I guess I'm the one with the ultimatum now. I'll call you when Fischer decides to meet with the location. I can assure you I won't be there for that meeting so remember this: the next time you see me will be when you're looking down the barrel of my gun.” Despite the threat Arthur smiled to himself because that threat, that promise even, really meant nothing to him right now.

“Looking forward to it,” he said before hanging up.. He would not let people scare him or his team into anything else. So he dialed the next number before he could think twice because he hated that trait about himself. Arthur answered a few questions before being patched through to the person they needed to set straight next.

“Arthur, to what do I owe the honor?” Saito's voice said on the other line. He did not sound like he was expecting a call so that could mean he was not involved.

“Robert Fischer hired us for an extraction job,” he said without bothering with any formalities. “If you want to know the longer version you could basically say that we're being blackmailed into it but never the less we're working for him.”

“I see,” Saito said after a long pause. “And who is he trying to get information from?”

“Her name is Susana Mitchell and she worked for you five years ago. I'm sure you can figure out where I'm going with this,” Arthur said because subtle was never one of his better qualities.

“Coincidence, I assure you. If that woman has any information about Fischer or anything concerning him, it certainly does not involve me,” Saito said.

“The rumor is that she has information that would destroy the new company Fischer is building before it even starts,” Arthur said.

“Even if that company takes off right away, it will be some time before I even register it as a threat. I have nothing to do with this, Arthur. I'm not going to hold it against any of you either; I was your client and that means once the money is dispersed, we have no ties anymore.” Saito's voice sounded calm. “Nevertheless, Cobb risked a good deal to pull me out of limbo so if there is anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

“If this goes wrong we might come to you looking for shelter as wanted fugitives,” he said. He had no plans to apologize to Saito for suspecting him of anything. He really did not care about that and he assumed Saito did not as well.

“I guess we'll see one way or another. Good luck, Arthur, and send my best to the rest of the team.” With that the line went dead. Another loose end was tied up. Walter was out of the way until the job was over and now they could focus on Susana and not tipping Fischer off to what had happened on the flight from Sydney to LA. For the first time in days Arthur felt under control and focused. Things were lining up, falling into place, and going the way they were supposed to.. He had work to do and he planned on getting it done without further distractions.

\---

Ariadne woke up from a dreamless sleep. This time she did not reach over to the other side of the bed expecting another body to be there. Instead she stared at that empty space and wondered if sleeping alone was different for Arthur as well. Mentally she chastised herself for even considering what he thought. She did not care, she could not care anymore, because it was over. Whatever they had had, it was over and nothing would be the same. It was like stepping off of that plane in LA after the inception job. Everything had changed. Ariadne wondered if she wanted to go freelance as an architect. She thought about going back to Paris and finishing school despite how mundane it would be. The dreamscape was going to be nothing but a reminder of the year of her life she had wasted on someone who could not care less about her. Even if he was trying to protect her his words rang too true for her to brush them off. It was not just his words but the way he had looked at her, as if she was something that he could own and toss away whenever he wanted.

She climbed out of bed and made little effort to make herself look pretty today. She really did not care what anyone thought about her appearance at this point. Without even realizing it she had been dressing up for Arthur even after they had had their fight. Now she was just going back to whatever made her comfortable and if that was not good enough for anyone else then they could just get over it. There were mazes that needed to be designed and a world to build for a woman who could be out of her mind. There was too much on the line fo her to be thinking about someone who did not care about her. And even if he did then he had a crappy way of showing it and that was reason enough to kick him out of her life.

Ariadne picked up a bagel from the continental breakfast in the lobby and walked down the street eating it. Walter might show up and after what Arthur had said it would not take much to get her rattled again. She did not want to show any more weakness; she was strong now and no one needed to protect her anymore. The door to the office was unlocked and she could only assume that Arthur was in there working as always. If they were alone she would ignore him and go about her designs. That was all that mattered, the mazes, finishing this job and getting as far away from all of this as she could. She could hear the sound of voices which was odd since most of them worked best in silence. Ariadne pushed the door opened and blinked back her surprise. Eames had Arthur pinned against a wall with his fists bunching the point man's shirt.

“You really are a cold bastard, did you know that? I always thought that you at least cared about someone in this world but I guess you proved me wrong,” Eames said and she could see that Arthur's lip was split. He did nothing to fight back, he did not even react, and he only looked at her when she said something.

“Eames, put him down,” Ariadne said and he looked over his shoulder at her. He looked furious but she just did not want to deal with this right now. “I can fight my own battles, just put him down. We have enough to deal with as it is. You don't need to protect me.” Eames released Arthur's shirt before glaring at him.

“Cobb is going to deck you too when he finds out,” he warned and still Arthur said nothing; he just smoothed out his shirt and cracked his neck. He looked at her for only a moment before he walked back to his desk and went to work as if nothing had happened. Ariadne gave Eames a small smile before she went over to her mazes. She really did not want Cobb to deck Arthur either, in fact she was more upset that someone had witnessed what he had done, but they needed to work together for this to succeed. Once this was over she did not care what Eames or Cobb did on her behalf, she just wanted nothing to do with it. When Yusuf came in he took one look at everyone in the room and did not say a word. She gave him credit for not pushing the issue. Cobb, on the other hand, wanted an explanation right away. Arthur stood up and the two of them walked over to a corner of the office and began to talk in hushed tones. Cobb was obviously angry about something but Arthur just stood there and did not say a word. Ariadne heard him mention something about jeopardizing the entire team and that he had no right to make that decision on his own when she realized he was not getting yelled at for what he had done to her, maybe to an extent, but for something worse than that.

Whatever the topic was neither of them mentioned it when they rejoined the group. Arthur spoke to Eames about how he needed to find a way to get close to Susana's body guard and Eames glared at him the entire time. If Arthur noticed he did not make it known or he did not care. Then he said he was going to spend the day trying to get into Susana's home and Yusuf asked how he planned to do that. Arthur just said not to worry about it and that he would be back later with the necessary information.

“What about Walter?” Eames asked and there was a change in Arthur's expression for only a moment.

“I took care of it,” he replied easily.

“What the hell does that mean?” Eames pressed but Arthur just gave him a dark look.

“It means I took care of it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do.” With that he pulled on his jacket and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him. There was an uneasy silence.

“What the hell happened?” Yusuf said finally and Ariadne did not want this to become some sort of secret.

“Arthur basically told me that he never cared and that he was using me because I'm the best architect. And now we're going to drop it,” she said.

“That explains why he did something so rash last night,” Cobb said and everyone looked at him. “He found information that linked Susana to Saito. We were not sure how to handle it so I said I would take care of it. I wanted it to be a delicate process so we could stay out of the crossfire. Instead Arthur called Saito and out right asked him about Susana. We're lucky that it's a coincidence, otherwise there’s no telling what would have happened.” That did not sound like Arthur at all. The man she knew was meticulous and seemed to plan even the smallest thing. To do something like that was so out of character for him that it made her wonder if it had come from the state of mind he had had to reach to say those things to her. Ariadne did not want to admit it but she was worried about what he might have done to get Walter to leave them alone. She remembered what Eames had said about obsession when it comes to point men and that only succeeded in making her more nervous. Eames flipped his poker chip into the air and caught it.


	8. Chapter 8

Arthur was much calmer now than he had been the night before. It was a different kind of calm though. It was like the calm he felt when he knew something was going to work out the way it was supposed to. It was like the calm he felt when a job was over and all that was left was covering their tracks and collecting his money. This was far from relaxation but more of a feeling that he had work to do and he was going to do it. He got back to the hotel and picked up his car. The drive around LA was more of a way for him to clear his head and come up with an idea than actually going anywhere. Arthur needed to get into Susana's home and not only find out if she even had a panic room but to get some details to Ariadne and the dreamer whoever that was going to be. He had a feeling it was going to be him since Cobb had to extract, Eames was playing the part of the body guard, Yusuf would be the outside contractor and Ariadne—he honestly had no idea if she was going to stick around after the levels were built.

He stopped in front of her apartment building and looked up. She was on the top floor, of course, and she owned the entire thing. That meant they could actually build a believable maze within her apartment; a maze within a maze. The details, however, were going to be the hard part. Arthur needed to find a way inside those doors and either take tons of picture or record the entire thing. She lived there full time and had no plans to rent it out or take a vacation anytime soon. The only thing he could think of was bribing the maid but that was too risky. There had to be some excuse he could use that would make a paranoid person like Susana Mitchell open her doors and let him walk inside. Even that was too risky; if she saw him before the mission, how were they going to drug her and do the actual extraction when she might recognize him inside the dream?

Arthur parked his car down the street and contemplated. There had to be some little detail that was going to make this much easier than he thought it was going to be. She had a security system, he knew that, so breaking in was out of the question, plus he liked to think he had a bit more class than that. There was a mention in the notes that she had cameras throughout the entire apartment but even then they would not be the best quality for details and that was what they needed: details. His mind fell back to bribing the maid again but there had to be some other way. He was in the park across the street from her building thinking about it when someone sat down next to him. He tensed for only a moment before he realized it was Cobb. Cobb had been furious the last time Arthur had seen him and for him to just come out like this made little sense. Instinctively Arthur reached for his die.

“Calm down, it's really me,” Cobb said just as Arthur clenched his fist around his die. “What do you think you're going to do?”

“I haven't decided yet. I know there is some easy way to get into that building and see her apartment but I just can't figure out what it is,” he said.

“You'll figure it out,” Cobb said before there was a brief pause. “That wasn't entirely what I was talking about either.”

“If you're going to hit me just get it over with. I need to think,” Arthur said in a low voice.

“I'm not going to hit you. I feel like I should but Eames took care of that for me. What you said to her, though, that's cold even for you. How much of it did you actually mean?” Cobb asked.

“Look, it was happening anyway. The same thing happened with you and Mal, you just never saw it but she did. I don't trust people, I've never trusted anyone and there is only so much half trust someone can take before it's just too much. You never noticed because you were too distracted by Mal and getting home,” Arthur said before standing. “It's done, it's over with, and I don't want to talk about it anymore so unless you have something constructive to say about the job let me get back to my work.”

“How did you take care of Walter?” Cobb asked after a long pause. In his mind Arthur pictured himself staring down the barrel of a gun, of Walter laughing, the sound of himself basically signing his own death certificate and the overwhelming sensation that he really did not care.

“I took care of it; that's all you need to know,” he said before he walked away leaving Cobb sitting on the bench in the park. Arthur wondered if he was subconsciously suicidal. Was it noble to walk in front of the firing squad if it meant someone else not getting hurt? Whether it was nobility or stupidity did not really matter. Either way he was not backing down and letting that man hurt anyone else. He was at the base of the apartment building looking up.

“Pretty impressive building. right?” the doorman said giving Arthur a warm smile.

“Yeah, I've never seen anything quite like it,” he replied.

“Some big fish lives here and it's completely worth it. You should see the inside of some of these apartments,” the doorman said.

“I really would like to,” Arthur said as he looked up at the top of the building again. “Are there any available that I can look around?” The doorman's smile faded.

“No, there aren't, but you can put in a request for a digital tour,” he said and Arthur creased his eyebrows.

“What do you mean?” he asked and the doorman shrugged.

“Some of these people like showing off and if you have the right credentials the building makes a digital tour of the apartment. How hard it is to get in depends on who you want to see. It's not exactly something the owners like to showcase but you look like someone who would fit in well here,” the man said before he scoffed. “Aside from the fact that you seem to have manners.”

“I'll take that as a compliment. In that case I'll look into it; thanks for the information,” Arthur said before he turned and walked away from the building. Credentials were Eames' specialty; it was just a matter of the forger actually agreeing to help. He walked across the road and climbed into his car and for just a moment, shut the rest of the world out. There was nothing around him and nothing expected; all he had to do was whatever he wanted to do. It was liberating and he loved the feeling until he opened his eyes. Arthur reached into his pocket and held his die up to the sun, the beams shinning through the red plastic. This was his only anchor to the real world now. There was no one else that was a constant reminder that this imperfect world was the only one. That the dreams, no matter how calming they may be, did not matter because when the timer ran out he was back in this world. This was the reality he had come to accept with Ariadne expressing the truth: trusting someone in a dream is easy but in real life it's much harder. And he was not willing to work for it.

Putting the die away Arthur drove the car across the city. He enjoyed being away from the ugly stares of those in his team. He was the bad guy now, the one that would be singled out, and it did not bother him at all. These people meant nothing to him, and once this job was over, he'd simply move from place to place, wherever the work took him, and not look back. The sound of his phone ringing made Arthur blink a few times. It was illegal to talk on the phone and drive in LA so he pulled over to the side of the road. The words 'unknown name unknown number' flashed and he could only assume who it was.

“Hello?”

“Fischer wants to meet you for dinner tonight,” Walter said in a low voice. “I'll send you the place and time. He wants to meet more than one of you though so bring some bodies out in the open; I promise I won't shoot.”

“I know you won't,” Arthur said before he hung up. Moments later a message flashed revealing a restaurant in Santa Monica called JiRaffe. He closed his phone and drove back to the office building. When he opened the door everyone turned and looked at him before instantly looking away. Not wanting to deal with it, Arthur walked over to Cobb but did not keep his voice down. “Walter called. Fischer wants to meet us.” That seemed to get everyone's attention.

“You're not planning on going to this one alone too, are you?” Eames said his eyes dark. Arthur only glanced at him for a moment before he turned back to Cobb.

“He asked for both of us by name so I'm assuming he wants to meet both of us,” he said and Cobb nodded.

“That would make sense. Maybe we should take someone else with us.” He glanced at Eames.

“Eames has work to do,” Arthur said and he narrowed his eyes.

“Aside from trying to tail Susana's bodyguard without him knowing?” Eames asked sounding annoyed.

“Yes. The building where Susana lives is one of the best in the city and they like showing it off without true invasion of privacy. If we can get the right credentials we can get a virtual tour of her home with no risk to us directly,” Arthur said as he caught Eames' gaze and held it. It was just like any other time they didn’t see eye to eye, a staring contest as they sized each other up. They had known each other for years and it still happened every single time there was a disagreement no matter how small.

“I suppose I have my work cut out for me, don't I?” he said sitting back in his chair. Arthur was a moron when it came to social situations, he was the first to admit it, but even he could feel the tension in the room.

“Dinner is at seven but the drive to Santa Monica will be long because of traffic. We should leave an hour early if possible,” Arthur said before he walked over to his desk and went back to work. There was an uneasy silence before everyone went back to what they were doing. It was even worse when he asked Ariadne if she could build a maze within a maze. She mumbled something under her breath and he left her alone. There was still so much he had to do and find out. As much as he did not want to admit it, and he was sure Eames did not either, they would have to work together to get close to Susana. Arthur had to find a way to get Eames close and Eames had to stay hidden without drawing any attention to himself but still be close enough to adopt mannerisms. It was going to be a thin line to cross and one he had a feeling he would have to walk with the forger.

Cobb left early to go home and change because the place they were going to was apparently fairly classy. Arthur knew he did not need to change but went toward the bathroom in the corner anyway to clean himself up a bit. In the mirror he saw the door open and Eames came in, watching him with dead eyes.

“We're going to have to work together,” he said.

“I know,” Arthur replied without looking away.

“I should kick your ass four times to next Wednesday but I suppose that can wait until the job is over,” he said and Arthur smiled to himself as he looked down at the sink.

“I guess you will,” he said before he smoothed out his hair and brushed by Eames. Ariadne looked up from her work and he met her eyes for only a moment. There was pain behind those eyes, pain that he had caused and that knowledge made him look away because she could not distract him anymore. Not now. Arthur closed the door behind him and went down the stairs to wait outside for Cobb.

\---

Ariadne sat in silence at her work station. She resented Arthur to an extreme extent but there was something behind his eyes that was surprising. They were hard and distant but for half a second she thought she saw something else behind them. It made her chest ache a little and she looked down at her hands trying to calm her breathing. Eames returned to the room and began to look over his own folder in silence. He appeared to be focused which was odd considering how he normally worked. The three of them discussed the job for a little while. Ariadne went over the mazes she was designing with both of them despite the fact that Yusuf would not be going into the dream. She wanted his input though. Now that Mal was under control there was no need to keep people in the dark about the designs. In fact she thought it was better if they all knew the mazes well. Arthur had mentioned a maze within a maze which was an interesting concept she had not thought of. It would be complicated and that was all the more reason for everyone to have it memorized; it would be easy to get lost.

The three of them went out to dinner early. Yusuf told her stories about his childhood in India and the time he spent in Africa. He had seen parts of the world she had never even considered exploring and the more he described it the more she wanted to go see it. Ariadne made mental notes of all of the different places she was going to explore when this entire thing was behind her. After the job for Fischer she was going to explore the world. She was an architect and she needed to see different places to create new places. After a long dinner Yusuf told her that he hoped she was feeling better before he headed back to the hotel. Eames asked her if she wanted to go back, since he was her ride, but she declined and said she wanted to get more work done. He groaned and when she asked why he said it was because she reminded him of all the work he needed to get done.

They went back to the office space and Ariadne dove back into her maze. The idea of a maze within a maze was fascinating to her and she wanted to explore it further. She could not figure out why she had not thought about that before. They could do dreams within dreams; what was stopping them from creating a design that could fit essentially two levels into one? She was about halfway through trying to piece it together when Eames cleared his threat. Ariadne looked up from her work.

“Yes, Eames? What do you need?” she asked and he smiled at her before moving from his desk to hers.

“I really just wanted see if you were okay, that's all,” he replied and she looked at him, not buying it for even a moment. “All right, all right, I have other motives. I need to run something by you.”

“All right, shoot,” Ariadne said standing up straight so she was not leaning over her maze anymore.

“Between you and me we probably have a pretty good grasp on Arthur's mentality, right?” Eames asked and she groaned; she really did not want to talk about him anymore.

“Can we just drop the topic? I understand you're worried about me but--”

“It's not you I'm worried about,” he said interrupting her. “Well, that's not entirely true, I am worried about you too, but there are varying degrees of worry. Right now I have nothing to back up my theory but a hunch.”

“Your hunches are usually pretty on the money,” Ariadne said trying to catch his eyes. “What are you thinking?”

“Arthur said he 'took care' of the situation with Walter. You've met the man, does he really seem like the type that would just back off?” Eames asked and she shook her head. “Yeah, I feel the same way. I confronted our resident bastard over there to tell him how much I wanted to kick his ass but that it would have to wait until after the job. He didn't flinch or anything but he looked down at his hands and smiled. It wasn't an amused smile or anything; it looked a smile from someone who was already defeated.”

“You mean he gave up and that made Walter back off?” Ariadne said but Eames shook his head and crossed his arms tightly across his chest.

“I can't be sure, and I'm going to try and get the truth out of him, believe you me, but I think he didn't really 'give up' but more like 'surrendered.' If Walter backs down from us then after the job Arthur is going to confront him. And he's going to go into that confrontation expecting to die.” The words made her blood run cold. Arthur had shut himself off to all of them in mere hours and seemed to be getting further away by the second. The research he could have easily done from his computer he did outside and in person. “Now, this is just a hunch and believe me there is hardly anyone in the world harder to read than Arthur. I could be completely wrong about this, he's pretty self righteous but hardly suicidal, maybe he just found some leverage over this guy and just didn't want to tell us the details because the situation is so unstable. I don't know but I'm going to get it out of him before we go into the dream. I can promise you that.” Ariadne nodded and probably said something that made Eames pat her shoulder and walk away. That familiar vise clenched her chest and all she could do was repeat to herself over and over again that Arthur was not that stupid.


	9. Chapter 9

Cobb was completely prim and proper when he pulled up in front of the office. Arthur did not say a word as he climbed into the car and they started driving through the city. If Cobb had anything on his mind he did not say what it was and Arthur could not have been more thankful. He was too busy trying to come up with a good way to follow Susana around so Eames could gather her bodyguard’s mannerisms. He still had his fair share of research to do before they got any closer to the actual job and they still had to put together a profile impressive enough that Susana would show off her apartment. These were the things he needed to focus on before anything else. That and an escape route should this dinner go wrong. There was no way of knowing whether Fischer would recognize them.

“If this goes wrong we get to the car as soon as possible. We alert everyone else and we vanish for a while,” Cobb said and Arthur nodded.

“That means we’ll have failed the job and Walter will leak our information. The only thing we'll be able to do at that point is hope Saito makes good on his word and can truly make us disappear,” he said. He saw Cobb visibly wince.

“I might take my chances in a courtroom,” he said in a low voice and Arthur was hardly surprised. Even if he went to prison at least his kids would know he had not abandoned them. The thought of seeing those kids hurt made a pit form in his stomach. Cobb would be behind him and so would those kids when he left. There would be no going back from breaking all ties. Cobb was probably the only one who would try and bring him back but even then he was not entirely sure. Whatever bond they had had seemed non-existent now and he was a bit thankful for that. It would make things easier when he walked away. “You said Mal confronted you before she died.”

“Yes, she did, I'd say about a week before,” Arthur replied and kept his eyes locked outside watching the scenery.

“What did she say?” Cobb asked.

“She said that she couldn't understand why I didn't trust both of you. She said that this was a dream and there was no reason to be on edge. When I tried to argue that we weren't in a dream she just cupped my head with her hands and said how sorry she was for me. She was sorry that I wanted to stay in this dream when reality was so close. I left for a job the next day and the next time I heard from you was your phone call saying Mal had killed herself, they thought it was you and now you were on the run,” Arthur explained and he glanced at the extractor. Cobb’s jaw muscles were tight and he looked as if he was trying to keep something locked inside.

“You've never really trusted me, have you?” Cobb asked after a long silence. Arthur thought about lying, he thought about avoiding the question, he thought about changing the subject.

“No, not entirely,” he said. The rest of the drive was in complete silence. Arthur really wished Cobb had not brought this up right before their meeting with Fischer. They had to seem calm, collected, professional, and not like they were being blackmailed into this job. When they pulled up to the hotel and parked the car, Cobb straightened his clothes and rolled his shoulders. They nodded to each other before they walked into the hotel; they were right on time. When they asked about Fischer the hostess said that they were expected and guided them to the second floor of the restaurant. Sitting at a table in a black suit sipping water was Robert Fischer. The moment they met he was either going to have a strong sense of deja-vu or this would feel like a new encounter. He turned around when the hostess gave them each a seat. He looked the same as he had a year before and his eyes watched them carefully.

“Gentlemen, I'm glad we've finally had a chance to meet; I'm Robert Fischer,” he said and extended a hand to Cobb who seemed to relax considerably.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Dom Cobb, though you can call me Cobb, and this is Arthur,” he introduced. Arthur shook hands with Fischer and smiled though he did not relax. There was still time for Fischer to realize he had seen them before.

“You two are hard to get a hold of. I had to hire someone just to locate one of you. I guess I just don't have the right connections,” Fischer said.

“A man of your position shouldn't have connections in our world,” Cobb said but Arthur remained silent. He was looking for some indication Fischer knew exactly who he was hiring when he sent Walter after them.

“Nevertheless I'm glad Walter was able to find you. Did it take much convincing for you to take this job?” Arthur narrowed his eyes.

“You could say that; you're actually pulling me out of retirement,” Cobb said carefully.

“I am paying well and retirement doesn't pay at all. I need the best for this job though and if you need more incentive I'm willing to pay extra,” Fischer said. He seemed to think that this was an issue about money; he had no idea about the blackmail and if he did he was exceptionally good at hiding it. Arthur also realized that Walter had neglected to say how much they would get for this job, if anything, but he had a sneaking suspicion the term 'hush money' was going to come into play.

“That's not the issue at all, Mr. Fischer. What I do want to discuss with you are the risks you have asked us to take with this extraction,” Cobb said, getting down to business. At this point it did not matter whether they had met before in the past. Fischer's eyes darkened a bit.

“Yes, Miss. Mitchell. I'm assuming Walter gave you the file,” he said.

“I've double checked his information and it all seems accurate. You are asking us to go into the mind of a potentially unstable woman who is not only paranoid but physically and mentally trained,” Arthur said and he watched Fischer carefully.

“I asked for the best for a reason.” Fischer rested his elbows on the table and looked at them. “I've done research on extraction and I've had someone teach me to protect my mind but I know how much I'm asking for. I knew there wasn't anyone else who could do this. Susana knows something, she told me she does, and even when I offered her money she refused to tell me what it is. She is a sick woman who loves watching train wrecks. That's what she thinks my company will be when she releases her information. You both are well regarded in the community. Even the few contacts I know mentioned your names along with a few others, and Walter mentioned that you all worked together on a job last year, the best of the best on one job. I wanted that team for myself. Will you do this job for me?” Arthur had to fight back a laugh at Fischer giving them a choice in the matter when they did not have one at all. Either he was toying with them or he really thought they could back out.

“We've already started, Mr. Fischer,” Arthur said carefully. “However I'd like to ask Cobb something in private, may we be excused?”

“Nonsense, stay where you are. I need to make a phone call,” Fischer said waving them off before snatching his phone and walking out of the room.

“What do you think?” Cobb asked keeping his voice down.

“If he knows about Walter's methods, he's playing a pretty sick game with us, but I really think he's in the dark. What I really think, however, is that we can use him,” Arthur said and that earned him a confused look. “We need connections to get into the hotel but also to get Eames close to Susana. If Fischer can take care of the hotel that will give Eames and I more time to focus on getting more information about that bodyguard. Maybe he can even help us with that.” Cobb was about to say something when Fischer joined them at the table.

“Well, gentlemen, I invited you to dinner so let's order some food. I've heard this place is astounding,” he said picking up the menu.

“Mr. Fischer,” Arthur said. “We have a few details that we are having trouble ironing out. Is there any way you could help us?” Cobb kicked his foot under the table, a clear sign to keep his mouth shut, but Arthur ignored it. Cobb might think this was a spontaneous request but Arthur had actually thought of this as soon as Fischer had not recognized them right away.

“I'm trying to avoid getting involved in this directly,” Fischer said carefully but there was no way Arthur was backing down now.

“It's really a simple thing. You understand that we need to construct a world for the dream?” Fisher nodded. “Well, for someone like Susana, we're going to have to be a precise as possible. The best place to try and extract information is a place where the mark feels safe, and for someone like her, there is no safer place than her own apartment. If we can get a good look at her apartment it would help immensely.” Cobb kicked his shin this time, harder, and he still ignored it.

“I can't just walk in and take pictures of her apartment,” Fischer said and Arthur was pretty sure Cobb was going to break a bone if he kicked any harder.

“Her hotel has a virtual tour program where special clientele can get tours of apartments without actually being in them. You need the right connections though,” he explained and Fischer seemed to think on it for a moment before he nodded.

“That is more or less something I can do that keeps my hands clean. What do you think, Mr. Cobb?” Fischer asked and Cobb gave him his best smile.

“Arthur is very thorough with his research, and if he says this is the best way, then it's the best way.”

“All right, gentlemen. I will have Walter contact you as soon as I get the information,” Fischer said before his phone rang. He spoke on it briefly before he sighed and hung up. “I'm afraid I have to cut this short; I have a business matter to attend to. These things just can't seem to wait until morning. Dinner is still on me, feel free to order what you want, and I will contact you soon.” With those words he smiled at both of them, a small and cautious smile, before he turned and walked out of the room. They sat in silence for a moment before Cobb spoke up.

“What does it take to shut you up, a crowbar to the kneecap? When were you planning on telling me that Fischer was going to get involved?” he asked and Arthur shrugged.

“Because I didn't really consider it until he didn't react to us. It doesn't matter now; we're getting the information we need and that's all that matters.”

“You need to start voicing these plans of yours out loud. I know you're rarely spontaneous but when you are, it tends to be at the worst possible moment,” Cobb said. They did not speak much for the rest of the meal and it felt odd to him to walk out of a restaurant without paying. Before they reached the car Cobb took his arm and held it tight. “Are you going to be all right?”

“What exactly is that supposed to mean? I'm fine, I've been fine.. I'm just doing my job, nice and thorough like you said, or would you rather I miss something again?” Arthur said his voice coming out much harsher than he intended before he pulled his arm free. “Focus on the job at hand; I'm fine, I've been fine, and I'm going to stay fine.” Cobb watched him for a moment before they climbed into the car and rode back to their hotel in complete silence. Arthur was more than thankful for it as the wheels in his head turned trying to come up with a perfect way of gaining access to the bodyguard.

\---

It was late when someone knocked on her door. Ariadne blinked and set aside her sketchpad before she walked over and looked through the peephole. She opened the door and found Cobb standing in front of her.

“You're back. How did it go? Did he recognize you?” she asked a little too fast but he just ran his hands through his hair.

“Let's go to the hotel bar for a drink,” he said finally and she nodded, seeing that he wanted to be somewhere else when they talked. Ariadne slipped on her shoes and followed him down to the very modest hotel bar where Cobb ordered a whiskey sour and Ariadne ordered her cape cod. The bartender walked off and they took a seat at a table in a corner away from prying ears.

“What's going on? You look a little pale,” she said and he loosened his tie.

“Fischer didn't recognize us, as far as I could tell anyway, and he also seemed in the dark about Walter's hiring tactics. He was under the impression that it was a money issue when we don't even know how much we're making for this,” he explained.

“It sounds like it went well so why do you look like you're about to run for your life?” Ariadne asked and they both fell silent as the bartender set their drinks on the table and walked away.

“Arthur even managed to convince Fischer to get us access to Susana's apartment through his connections so we didn't have to make any,” Cobb continued and she was still lost.

“Okay, I take that back, it sounds like it went really well. So what's going on?” she asked again and he looked at her.

“It's Arthur.” Ariadne could not contain her groan.

“Look, you all need to stop obsessing over him acting a little odd. He met head to head with someone who was not only better than him but seemed to work on an entirely different moral plane. He's getting things done, isn't that what matters?” she said but Cobb looked at her, his expression deadly serious.

“You saw what happened when we went in while I was all torn up inside and how that turned out. This mission is dangerous as well and we can't risk something happening in there. I can't risk it, not with my kids on the line again, so I want to make sure everything is fine. He's going to be the dreamer, did you know that? An unstable mark and an unstable dreamer do not make for a pretty combination.” He paused and released a slow breath. “I know he hurt you and I know he has pretty much shut all of us out but I need you to go talk to him. If he'll listen to anyone, it'll be you, trust me on this. If nothing else, remind him that the job depends on it.” Ariadne stared at him for a long time. She did not want to speak to Arthur, especially not alone, and especially not about their falling out. Yet here was Cobb asking her to do this for him, for everyone, because there was a huge risk that Arthur was out of control. There was more at stake here than her going upstairs and possibly getting hurt all over again. All of their lives could rest on this job getting done and getting done properly. Ariadne picked up her drink and knocked it back in two big gulps.

“I'm going to need about ten drinks after this,” was all she said. The saying “liquid courage” rang true here because it took two more drinks before she was even able to walk toward the door. It took some persuading from Eames to find out exactly what room Arthur was in but she assured him that she was doing what needed to be done. Cobb asking her to talk to Arthur was really just an excuse she needed to confront him for real. The only conversation they had had since the fight had been in front of other people and this was something that needed to be said in private. The issue had been private to begin with and he had done it in public. That told her that he did not want to confront her alone and that was exactly what she was going to do. They had been together in some sense of the word for an entire year, and for that, Ariadne knew that she deserved more than an 'I don't care about you' in front of Eames. It only took one knock at the door for Arthur to answer. His hair was messy and out of place, his tie was loose around his neck, and his shirt was wrinkled with the sleeves pushed halfway up his arms. Cobb was right; Arthur was a wreck. He stared down at her with his dark eyes and did not say a word. Ariadne did the same: she did not look away and ignored the tension in the air.

“Are you going to invite me in?” she asked after a long silence.

“Why would I do that? There's nothing left to say unless it is about the job,” he said easily and she narrowed her eyes.

“Maybe you don't, but I do and if you don't let me in I'm going to say everything in a voice so loud that everyone in the entire hotel is going to hear,” Ariadne said and she crossed her arms. Arthur stared her down before he stepped aside and let her into the room. There were papers all over his desk in various piles and his laptop was among the mess. The door closed and Ariadne turned around to see him standing with his hands in his pockets, watching her as if he was waiting for something. “You always make such a mess when you're working.”

“Yes, I know, and so do you. Say what you need to say so I can go back to work.” Arthur's voice was cold.

“I have plenty to say and so should you. I know you said all of those things to protect me from Walter so why don't you drop the act that you never cared. It's just the two of us so be honest with me,” Ariadne said and he creased his eyebrows.

“I wasn't lying when I said those things,” he said.

“I don't believe you,” she said and he shrugged his shoulders.

“That's your business, but you were right about everything you said about me. I don't trust you and that made me realize that I never cared either. Whatever we had was physical and for work, nothing more,” Arthur said and despite herself Ariadne visibly flinched. His words hurt more now that they were alone and he was saying the same thing.

“So that's how it is,” she said and he nodded.

“Are we done? I have work to do.” He stepped aside to let her pass.

“Actually we aren’t because this is affecting you even if you don't want to admit it,” Ariadne said and she narrowed her eyes. “You're making rash decisions. Take a look at yourself; you’re not even close to being all right.”

“What does that have to do with anything? I'm fine, I’m just stressed because this job has very different stakes from the others,” Arthur said and she could hear a hint of him getting defensive.

“Because you're going to be the dreamer, we all know that, and you know first hand that having someone in there who isn't stable can be dangerous,” Ariadne said and he walked up to her fast, staring down at her with wild-looking dark eyes.

“I'm not unstable, so I think it's time for you to go,” he said. His voice was dark but she did not care.

“Arthur, this isn't about you, this is about everyone. If this job goes wrong because you're rattled about something,” she said intently and she was surprised when he took her by the upper arms. His grip was tight but not enough that it hurt; he was trying to scare her, to get her to leave.

“I'm not rattled, I'm fine and it's time for you to go,” Arthur said and they were so close together, the edges of their bodies touching. Ariadne leaned in even closer so she could look him directly in the eye.

“I'm not going anywhere,” she said in a low voice. They stayed like that for what felt like a long time and it was like when they had kissed for the first time in her hotel suite. He was so close that she could feel his heartbeat and he could feel hers, she was sure. Ariadne was not sure who kissed whom first but the next thing she remembered was her back against the wall, Arthur's lips on hers. It was not a soft kiss, it was intense, like he was trying to force her mouth open. He released her upper arms and pushed her against the wall holding her there. Ariadne clenched his shirt in her fists because he was not going anywhere, not while she was holding on tight and wrinkling his shirt just the way he hated. Suddenly they were moving, Arthur holding her against him, and the next thing she was expecting to feel was the back of the bed, but he only set her feet on the ground before he pulled away and she realized he had walked her right out of his hotel room while she was distracted by his mouth. He took a step back, the wrinkles from her fists slowly coming undone from his shirt, and his eyes revealed nothing.

“I told you to get out,” Arthur said before he closed the door in her face. Ariadne was stunned to silence, she honestly could not believe that he had just done that. She slammed her fist against the door, called him a 'bastard,' and stormed away even angrier than before. She had been right about one thing: she was going to need about ten more drinks. Though what made her furious was that even though he had slammed the door in her face, her body was still ringing with the memory of his hands on her and in that moment Ariadne was not sure who she hated more.


	10. Chapter 10

Arthur stood by the door to his hotel room and listened as Ariadne called him a 'bastard', which he did not disagree with, before the sound of her leaving left everything silent save the hum of his laptop. There was something about her that made every logical thought he had fly out the window. He could not have her, he never could, because he could not be what she needed. He needed to get her out of his head forever. So when the logical part of his mind figured out that they were kissing, that he had her pinned against the wall, Arthur knew he had to get her out of the room before he did something stupid. It was a low thing to do but there was no way he was going to be able to stop himself if they got anywhere near the bed. If she told Eames or Cobb what had happened, one of them, probably Eames, would punch him again. He was okay with that. He was sinking to a new low, and if that was what it took to ease this transition for Ariadne he could deal with a few bruises.

Arthur pushed her out of his mind and sat back down on his bed. He looked over papers and documents before going back to his computer. It was proving harder to find information on Susana's bodyguard than it had been to find information on her. He was being paid cash because there was no record of any transactions to anyone for that kind of service. That made sense, he decided, since that was the kind of job one did not exactly want to advertize. That did not make it any more irritating for him because specifics about this man was the thing that they needed. It took some looking around but Arthur finally managed to find a name: Dave Matthews. The face matched the only real record of this man that he was able to find: his mug shot. Susana's bodyguard was the kind of person one did not want to meet in a dark alley but perfect for the kind of work she needed. His track record was varied, unlike Walter's, but it looked like he was a former mob soldier with various charges against him, including armed burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and various different drug charges. His name came up in a few cold case murder investigations but nothing that stood out.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. Now they not only had a paranoid and potentially dangerous mark but now they also had to deal with her more dangerous bodyguard. Arthur almost wanted to call Fischer and tell him that there was no way they were doing this mission. The dream itself was going to be bad but what Susana or Dave would do if they found out about the extraction just made things worse. And things with Walter were settled for now but that would not last forever. One of his famous headaches returned and Arthur rubbed his temples, trying to clear his head. There was always a way to make things work and he was going to find it. For now they just had to get some sense of Susana's schedule so they could find a way to follow her. That also meant spending lots of time alone with Eames and that was enough to push the headache into a full blown migraine.

Arthur turned off the light next to his bed and closed his eyes, trying to shut out all sound and block out all light. He still had a bit of sedative left from Yusuf and he contemplated using it to get some sleep. It was across the room though and the pain in his skull was bad enough that he did not want to move. His thoughts faded to the last time he had had one this bad. It was during a job about six months ago. The mark was someone who had something like four different identities and Arthur had been trying to work on a way to see which one, if any, was the real one with no luck. He had pulled the drapes to his hotel room in Prague closed and turned off anything that made any noise. When the door opened, he had groaned. The next thing he knew someone was moving his head to their lap and Arthur had opened his eyes. Ariadne was sitting with him, stroking his hair, and staying completely silent. Normally she left him alone when things were like this, but this time she had just sat with him for the entire duration of the migraine. When the pain had subsided to the point of being tolerable, he had sat up and asked her why she had come to sit with him, and she had just smiled and said 'sometimes a little company is enough.' After that he had taken her into his arms, his research scattered, and it had not bothered him at all.

There was a knock on his door and Arthur really did not want to deal with any of this right now. He almost told whoever was at the door to bugger off and come back when light and sounds were not the worst things in the universe. Instead he pushed himself to his feet and opened the door. The light from the hallway was so bad that he had to cover his eyes.

“What's wrong with you?” Eames asked and it sounded like he was screaming.

“Eames, I swear to god if you don't whisper, I'm going to be the one throwing punches this time,” Arthur warned. “What do you want?”

“When are we going to get started on the bodyguard?” he asked and dear god was Arthur ever relieved that he lowered his voice.

“I have information but now is really not the time,” he replied and the forger cocked an eyebrow. “I have a migraine.”

“Then we'll sit in the dark,” Eames replied and Arthur really did not want to fight him on the matter. He opened his door and Eames walked in. He really hoped that this 'sit in the dark' thing was a promise because he was not sure if he could handle Eames' voice in his state at all; he had enough trouble dealing with it when he was not in blinding pain.

“So you know when people ask 'how could things get any worse?'” Arthur asked as he gathered his papers and Eames nodded. “Well they just got worse.”

“Oh this is just brilliant,” Eames said as he looked over the papers. “I'm starting to think the dream world is going to be safer than the real world.” Arthur agreed and leaned against the headboard of his bed. He felt the bed move and he knew Eames had sat down. “So you have another one of those migraines you get when you can't figure something out?”

“Yes, I do, so silence would be appreciated,” Arthur said and he heard a scoff. “And I know silence from you is like asking for a flat out miracle so just say what you need to say so I can get some peace.”

“We've known each other for a while now, right? We've worked together plenty of times and we were essentially partners two years ago when Cobb had to completely vanish for a while,” Eames said after some silence. “So I'd like to think I get the way you do things to an extent.” Arthur knew exactly where this was going.

“I don't know how she feels about it, but I don't like people bringing up my personal life whenever they see fit just because it's with someone they know personally.” Arthur opened his eyes to see Eames wearing his poker face. “So forget what I said earlier, you can keep whatever you want to say to yourself, but you can still leave.” The forger stood up and stretched before giving him a dark look. “If you want to beat me up this would be a perfect time, otherwise I might throw a punch back.”

“I'm not going to beat you up, Arthur, we're not children. Point of fact, you're doing a great job beating yourself up. Let me know when the migraine fades and we can get to work.” Eames strolled out of the room and closed the door louder than needed. The clock on the end table read nearly four in the morning. It was just like Eames to pick the perfect time to bother him when his body was screaming with exhaustion. Arthur lay down, closed his eyes, and did not bother to move any of his work.

Even with the very late night his internal clock woke him up bright and early at seven. His head felt fine now but Arthur was nevertheless unhappy when he found out he had slept in his clothes. Peeling off the last pieces of suit he climbed into the shower and stood there for a long time. The water was hot, too hot, but he could not be bothered to change it. It seemed like a good reminder that this was reality, that everything he had done and said was real, and that was something he wished he could wake up from. Arthur knew he was never much of an overly emotional person but this seemed like an extreme even for him. It did not feel natural, like he was trying to make the emptiness he was projecting reality.. It was a bit of a depressing realization but that hardly mattered. He could not change what he had said or what he had done, and when someone did unforgivable things, they had to deal with the consequences whether they liked them or not.

Arthur stepped out of the shower and pulled on another one of his suits. The rest were going in a bag to be cleaned, dried, and pressed by the hotel despite how little he trusted them. The irony did not escape him. He slicked his hair back and relaxed a bit because everything was in order. Arthur clenched his die in his pocket before he rolled it. The answer was exactly what he knew it would be and not what he wanted. He put his research in order before he gathered his laptop and closed the hotel door behind him. When he got to Eames' room he knocked loud enough that he knew he must have woken the forger. When Eames answered the door in nothing but boxer shorts Arthur raised an eyebrow.

“We have work to do,” he said and Eames stared at him like he was insane.

“It's barely eight, we were up until a least four, and you want to work now?”.

“Drink coffee,” was all he said and Eames heaved a sigh before opening the door and vanishing into the bathroom. The room was exactly how he had expected it to be: chaotic.

“I know you're standing out there judging me, Arthur, but could you slide my bag into the bathroom along with your condescension?” Eames said from the bathroom and for some reason it made him smile. Arthur picked up one of the bags, dropped it inside the bathroom, and waited in silence. A good ten minutes later Eames emerged, running his hands through his hair to dry it out. “Well, what's your plan?”

“Coffee for you so you won't complain,” Arthur said and he walked out of the room. Eames grabbed a few things and followed, closing the door behind him.

“I'm assuming you're not just inviting me out to coffee.” Arthur glared at him. “So what's the plan after that?”

“We need to find out what this woman's schedule is. The better we know where she likes to go, the better chance we have of getting there to watch her and that bodyguard of hers. How long do you need to create a decent replica?” Arthur said as he walked toward his car.

“Yours is too flashy; we're taking mine,” Eames said and walked toward his modest car. Arthur was not in the mood to argue. He knew that despite the fact that they were taking Eames' car, he would be the one to pay for the coffee, the inevitable meals, and probably the gas as well. They drove off and pretty soon they were both nursing hot coffees from some terrible drive in cafe because neither of them wanted to sit down anywhere. Instead they parked the car down the street and sat in the same park while they watched the building. The silence was nice but Arthur knew it would not last. “I'm going to ask you something and you have to answer truthfully.”

“How will you know if I'm lying?” Although, they were having a conversation, they did not look at each other.

“Oh it's what I do and you know that. No one reads people better than me,” Eames said and Arthur knew that he was smirking without having to look. “We both know that this entire thing with Ariadne stems from you not trusting her for some arbitrary reason. What I want to know is if you’ve ever trusted anyone.” It was an odd question and Arthur had to think about it for a moment. The closest thing to a family he could remember having was Cobb, Mal and the kids. They had almost seemed to take him in, to an extent, because he really had nowhere else to go. He had been out of college, paid for by scholarships, because there had not been anyone to help pay for it. He did not remember his parents but he remembered the aunt he had lived with for a while. There was something about her that had always set him on edge, and somewhere along the line, he had just stopped trusting people. In school all he could see was the backstabbing and the dirty lies told by people that their friends had “trusted” and he just did not understand why they would follow someone so blindly. When Mal had asked why he did not trust them, he really had had no answer because they had given him absolutely no reason not to.

“No, I haven't,” he said after a long silence and he saw Eames move, studying his features. Arthur glanced over and the forger just stared some more before leaning back against the bench. He drank more of his coffee and tossed it into a can next to the bench. What he had seen when Arthur made his confession, he did not say. Instead he went oddly quiet and they continued to watch the building. Susana emerged at ten almost on the dot with Dave right behind her. As she walked toward her car, Arthur and Eames made their way to their own car. When Arthur slid into the driver’s seat, he was surprised that Eames did not protest. They stayed at least three cars behind her for the rest of the day. Arthur made a mental note of every single place she went and what time she went there. By the time that she was eating dinner, the exhaustion of less than four hours of sleeping was beginning to take its toll.

“Let me drive,” Eames said after several hours of stilted conversation. “What, don't trust me?”

“As a matter of fact, I don't, but me falling asleep at the wheel is probably not a good thing,” Arthur said before he climbed out of the car and they switched places. He finally wrote down everything he had witnessed over the course of the day, but as soon as that was done his eyelids felt heavy. Susana was going to be out for at least another hour before she went home because she loved to flirt and carry on at her table.

“Arthur.” His name was almost a kick that pulled him out of his own head. “You're tired, obviously, so just close your eyes and take a nap. I've watched you sleep before, hundreds of times. I'm not going to make your chair fall over or anything.”

“We're in a car,” Arthur said and Eames glared at him. “Fine but you better wake me up when she leaves.”

“Yes, yes of course. Maybe you'll be in a better mood after a nap,” Eames said and Arthur did not give the forger the satisfaction of a response. He let his head rest against the cool window and let his mind wander a bit. Work was really the only thing that kept him from thinking too much. He did not want to think about Ariadne or how she was affecting him despite how reluctant he was to admit it. He really was not a cold person, he really did feel bad for hurting her, but it had been either that or lie to her. He respected her too much to lie so he had used the truth. He did not, however, feel bad lying to them about Walter. There was a lingering notion in the back of his mind that there was a good chance after this job that he might vanish off the grid. Cobb, Eames and the others would know what had happened but there was no way they would be able to prove it. Someone like Walter left no trace, something Arthur had thought he did but apparently not, because that was the point man's job.

Eames saying his name jerked Arthur from a sleep that he did not remember. He blinked a few times to try and clear his head as the car started to move. He checked his watch and wrote down what time she had left. It seemed about the same as the last time he had watched her. Susana went up to her apartment and that was all they could do for now.

“Well, I'll tell you what I’ve gathered. In one sense she reminds me a lot of you,” Eames said and Arthur stared at him, narrowing his eyes. “She seems like she's someone who likes order. It's probably part of her paranoia. If things are the same, then you notice when something is different. Also, I think she's sleeping with the bodyguard.” That was something that had not shown in the research.

“What makes you think that?” he asked and Eames shrugged.

“Body language; you can always tell when two people have slept together. How do you think I knew about you and Ariadne long before you made it obvious?” Arthur did not like the idea that he could give something like that away without intending to but he let that slide. He could not decide if that complicated the matter or not.

“Does that complicate things?” he asked after he was unable to come up with an answer.

“I'm not sure. If they're invested, it might, but if it's just a physical thing then it shouldn't. I'll watch some more and we'll see what I can figure out,” Eames said before rolling his shoulders. “Okay, time for dinner, and you're paying.”

“Color me surprised,” Arthur grumbled and Eames laughed loudly as they drove away from the apartment building.


	11. Chapter 11

Arthur spent most of the next few days with Eames watching Susana. They did not talk about much and what little they did really did not have much substance. It was almost always about the job which was fine by him. The lectures about his failed relationship were getting old. The only person who had the right to bring that up was Ariadne and she completely ignored him now unless they had to talk about the job. Eventually she would have to teach him the maze and that meant lots of awkward time together.

It was on the third day of watching Susana that Eames showed up at his door very early. Now Arthur was standing in front of him in his tank top and pajama bottoms. He was about to ask what was going on when Eames pushed himself through the door, closed it with his foot, and had Arthur pinned to the wall before he could even react.

"Good to know your reflexes are still top notch," he deadpanned.

"Good to know I'm still faster than you," Eames said as he held both of Arthur's arms against the wall by his wrists.

"What are you doing here? This is early for you," he asked and Eames narrowed his eyes. There was a long pause before the forger leaned forward and caught Arthur in a rough kiss. It was another moment where he had no time to react and Eames kept his arms pinned against the wall. When he finally pulled away he stared at Arthur intently. It took a moment for Arthur to catch his breath and he felt very exposed under Eames' gaze.

"We don't do that anymore. We haven't done that for a long time," he said.

"Yes, I know, but we did. You ended it, but it was just a 'we're done with that' and that was it. You didn't take cheap shots or try to make me miserable, you just ended it. We weren't invested and you say that you weren't with her either. You didn't try to shove me away, you just said 'no more' and that was it. Why is it so different with her?" he asked and Arthur stared at him confused.

"She was invested so of course it was different. You understood 'no more' because it was the same for you as it was for me. She did not feel that way so I had to push her away. If I hadn't, she would have thought there was a chance of reconciliation." Eames continued to stare at him with that same intense expression.

"And is there?"

"You were there, you heard what I said. Would you take me back after I said those things? After I said them again when it was just the two of us?" Arthur asked without hesitation.

"You talked to her alone," Eames said and Arthur was surprised he did not know this. "And even in a place where you didn't need to lie, you just reaffirmed what you said the first time."

"I wasn't lying the first time," he said and even then Eames did not look away.

"So you didn't trust me back then either?" he asked.

"It's you; I never let you out of my sight," Arthur said before he tried to move. "Are we done confessing? I'd like to get more sleep before we go out again. You should too; I don't want to listen to you complain all day." Eames stared for a moment longer before he released Arthur and walked out of the room without a word. It did not surprise Arthur that Eames had brought up their past in comparison to the present. What he had not expected was how long it had taken Eames to bring it up at all. Still it was a shock to the system to have Eames that close after two years of barely being within five feet of each other. It was not due to awkwardness or anything like that but more that they did not, and probably never would, see eye to eye. That was what had mostly led to six months of a physical relationship; the banter made everything interesting. It ended just as Eames had said: they were done one day and this was the first time either of them had mentioned it.

Arthur climbed back into bed but could not fall back asleep. He was not taking cheap shots at Ariadne, at least he did not think so, but he also knew he had to be blunt to get the point across. It seemed a little cruel but he never sugar coated things. The longer the job went on, the more he wanted out of this entire mess. Cobb was going back to his kids, Eames would go off and do his own thing, Yusuf had not wanted to be back in the field in the first place, and Ariadne, well, he hoped she would go finish school. She did not belong in this world and it would be best if she just walked away. So, depending on the circumstances, he would go back to going from job to job. No more of this traveling with the same person. It only complicated things. It had been so much easier before Cobb and all of his baggage.

Arthur tried to sleep until around six thirty before he gave up. Instead he took a shower that was too hot and took his time getting dressed. After Eames deciding that barging in was a good idea, Arthur was prepared to return the favor even if it meant that he would have to deal with the complaining for the rest of the day. So he did not hold back when he knocked on Eames' door and was not entirely surprised when a 'go away' emerged from within. He knocked again over and over again before the door opened.

"I never thought I'd see the day I could describe you as 'annoying.' Truly this is a day that will live on." The sarcasm was enough that Arthur just rolled his eyes. Anything he said to that would just encourage Eames to taunt him some more.

“We still have work to do,” he said and Eames just stared at him.

“You're not very keen on this 'sleeping' thing, are you?” he said and Arthur shrugged. “Fine, just come in, and don't worry, I'll change in the bathroom.” Arthur walked into the room and glanced around as he tried to figure out how anyone could live in this mess.

“It's not like I'd see anything new,” Arthur said and he heard Eames scoff behind him before the door to the bathroom closed. On the messy bed were the files on Dave and Susana that he had put together with tons of other notes scribbled all over them. He tilted his head to the side and saw lists of little things that he never would have thought to notice. Which foot Dave tended to start with, how he stood when in proximity to Susana, left or right handed, just all of these details that he never would have thought to write down.

“See? I do work,” Eames said and Arthur turned around. Once again he was drying his hair with a towel before he pushed it back.

“How much longer do you think you'll need before you can make a believable replica?” he asked and Eames shrugged.

“Depends on how believable we want this to be. I'll need another week if we want it to be perfect, but if Fischer is getting impatient I could be ready by tomorrow.”

“Fischer's not allowed to be impatient when he hasn't delivered the tour of her apartment yet,” Arthur muttered as he went to walk by Eames. A hand clenched his upper arm and held him steady. “Why do you keep doing this? Don't you have some other way of getting my attention?”

“You need someone to force you to listen and I don't think you want me to pin you against a wall every time. Unless you do, then I'm game,” he said and Arthur glared.

“What do you want now?”

“Have you done something stupid?” he asked and Arthur looked over to see that Eames was staring ahead.

“What are you talking about?” Arthur asked and the hand around his arm tightened.

“You know what I mean,” Eames said.

“I did what I had to,” Arthur said in a low voice. They stood like that for a moment before Eames released his arm and they both walked out of the room. Arthur did not want to talk about any of this anymore. Ariadne, Walter, how everyone was telling him how he should be reacting, enough was enough. He clenched his fists at his side to the point that his knuckles started turning white. He thought he saw Eames glance at him, but if he did the forger kept his mouth shut. He almost wanted Fischer to get impatient so they could get this job over and done with. Arthur had never had much in the way of the 'fight or flight' instincts but this was one occasion that he wished he could just leave. He was off to another day of trying to make small talk with a man he had absolutely nothing in common with; their only form of amusement was banter and the job. There was only so much of Eames' banter that Arthur could take before he went out of his mind.

\---

Ariadne leaned over her model and admired it. It was probably one of her best mazes so far and the idea of having a maze within a maze was brilliant considering the source of the idea. Now it just needed some context and the level would be complete. The next step was teaching it to Arthur so he would know every single detail. It was a long process and she was not looking forward to being in the same room as him. They would also have to share dreams, just the two of them, and she was not looking forward to seeing relaxed Arthur. The more she thought about it though she realized that the Arthur she had seen in that mountain town was someone she was never going to see again. It had been a rare moment that he had let her see and she had thrown it in his face. Even after all he had said Ariadne seemed to pity him more and more. Here was someone so emotionally distant that he could not relate to anyone in the real world where he could get hurt. For someone so strong he seemed so emotionally weak to her.

It was while Arthur and Eames were out watching the mark that Cobb told her about Arthur's last conversation with Mal. It made Ariadne a little sad for both of them but it also made her feel a little better that he had not trusted the people who had taken him in. Cobb said that Arthur had been only twenty or so when they first met. The three of them had worked within dreams for almost two years. Cobb even said that Arthur was James' godfather despite the fact that none of them were that sentimental. Ariadne could hear in Cobb's voice the sense of betrayal he felt from Arthur's admitting that he had never trusted either of them. He had known Arthur for four years and in all that time Arthur had never trusted him. She did not blame him for being hurt by it. She had only been with him for a year and it hurt, but she also knew that there was nothing either of them could do about it. No one could change the past.

After three days Arthur and Eames finally returned to the office. There was a certain tension in Eames' shoulders now and he gave her a small nod. Ariadne knew that meant he had to talk to her alone at some point. Arthur, however, seemed to be an odd combination of completely organized and being so on edge he looked like he was about to snap. Eames said that he more or less had enough to make a decent Dave but at this point it was mostly the subtle details that Susana might miss. Cobb said that he should continue to study the bodyguard until the very last minute because they only had one shot at this. Ariadne glanced over at Arthur who sat at his desk, eyebrows creased, looking ever so serious as always. He must have felt her watching him because he looked up and their eyes met from across the room. She did not look away, she just held his gaze and had to hold back surprise when he looked away first. The entire situation still felt so wrong, as if something was off.

Eames offered to take her out to dinner after the day was over. As they all filed out Cobb asked Arthur if he was coming and he waved them off, saying that he was behind on his work. Yusuf said he looked like he was still not sleeping and left a small bottle of sedative behind. They all went their separate ways and Ariadne stole a glance up at the windows of the office building. The single light from his desk made the glow in the windows very dim. When she turned she saw Eames looking up the same way she was. They drove through town for a bit until they came to a diner. The thought of breakfast for dinner sounded like an excellent idea to Ariadne and she did not protest when Eames offered to buy.

“So there is something I need to tell you about a certain someone but I'm not sure if you're going to like the answer,” Eames said between bites of pancakes.

“I'm sure it can't get any worse than what happened between us the other day,” Ariadne replied taking a sip of her green tea.

“He mentioned that you two spoke alone and that it wasn't pretty,” Eames said. “What happened?”

“It's not important; he just said exactly what he said to me the first time without hesitation. Then he managed to get me out of his room in the most unconventional way possible,” she said and the second it left her lips she knew it was a mistake. He stared at her and did not break it until she sighed. “I needed to confront him but Cobb wanted me to see if I could straighten him out too. Arthur being a wreck could make things complicated for the job obviously. So we argued and it got a little heated. He was holding me by my arms trying to scare me into leaving and I refused. I don't know exactly what happened next but before I could even think about it we were--” She cut herself off and blushed a bit. “It got a little intense. When I was distracted, for lack of a better term, he led me outside of the room, set me on my feet in the hallway, said that he had told me to leave and then closed the door.” The second she saw the look on Eames' face she knew she had said too much. “Eames, I know what you're thinking and you don't need to defend me. I don't like it when people try to protect me.” In her mind she heard Arthur say 'that's why I keep doing it' with one of his smiles. They had seemed so sincere at the time and Ariadne wondered if it was just optimism because even thinking back to Rome just a few weeks prior he had seemed like a different person.

“Ariadne, are you okay?” Eames asked and it brought her back to reality. Eames was staring at her and he looked worried. He had used her name and not some pet name. “You look like someone just punched you in the stomach.”

“Yeah, well, just thinking about things that seem a lifetime away,” Ariadne said and she flashed her best smile. “Okay, what do you need to tell me?”

“You know a forger has to pick up on the little things. I told you before that Arthur is hard to read when it comes to lying but I think I got some real truth out of him the other day,” Eames said and he looked down at the plate. “I asked him to answer, honestly, if he had ever trusted someone completely. And I looked for some indication that he was lying but there wasn't anything there. He wasn't lying.” She would have been lying to herself if she thought that somewhere deep down he had trusted her but that was not true. The knowledge that what he had said was true, really true, was enough to make her stomach twist into a knot.

“What about the Walter situation? Were you able to find out anything about that?” Ariadne said and she was surprised how even her voice was.

“I asked and I couldn't tell one way or another which is surprising. Whatever he decided he's not letting anyone else see it. I'll keep asking but I really don't know if I'll ever get a straight answer. If I don't find some way of getting him to answer 'yes' or 'no' I don't know if I'll ever get the information. Whatever he's planning, he's not letting anyone help him,” Eames said. The rest of the dinner they talked about everything except Arthur. Considering how much they bickered, Eames seemed to care for Arthur a lot more than she thought he would. In fact it surprised her how much everyone was concerned for him. She just wished he would notice.

They finished dinner and Eames was about to drive them back to the hotel when Ariadne realized she had forgotten her sketchpad on her desk. She promised to just run up and grab it without trying to poke or prod Arthur. She gave Eames her most convincing smile and jogged into the building and up the stairs. The door was locked from the inside but she had her own key. The door opened and she blinked back her surprise. Arthur was slumped over his desk fast asleep. He did not stir when she opened the door and she knew he was a light sleeper. There did not seem to be any sedative missing so she could only guess that he was severely sleep deprived. Ariadne thought about having Eames come up and move him to the hotel but logic told her that a few punches would be thrown in that case. She was wearing a zip up sweatshirt since the evenings were generally fairly cold and she watched him sleep. Very rarely was she able to watch him sleep but it seemed like the only time Arthur ever looked relaxed.

Ariadne shrugged off her sweatshirt and walked over to his desk. He only stirred a bit when she draped it over his shoulders. That familiar pit in her stomach formed and she grabbed her sketchpad and raced out of the office building, taking care to close and lock the door quietly so as not to wake the sleeping Arthur.


	12. Chapter 12

If Eames noticed her missing sweatshirt, and Ariadne was sure he did since it was his job to notice the little things, he did not mention it. For a moment she thought about going back up and taking it back because Arthur honestly did not deserve any of her kindness. She was convinced that if it was her, Arthur would have let her freeze. He did not care, he had said he never had, but Ariadne thought of all the times in the dreams during jobs when something had gone wrong. He had drawn the projections away from her, taken a bullet, killed her painlessly with his last bullet as the projections tore him apart. Why would he do all of those things if he did not care? His words said one thing but his actions were not lining up completely. He could not claim to not care and still have done all of those things. 'That’s why I keep doing it' he had said when she said she did not like being protected. Do you protect assets? She did not know what to think.

When they pulled up to the hotel Ariadne wanted to confront Arthur again but this time on her own terms. They were going to have to go under by themselves so she could show him the dream and that was where she was going to confront him for the last time. She wanted to see if he truly meant what he had said and if it would reflect in his actions. If he walked away like it was nothing, Ariadne swore that she would leave him alone forever. A friend, a lover, a partner, she would cut all ties from him and if they had to work together again, it would be fine. However, if Arthur even flinched she would know he was lying about something. If Ariadne was honest with herself she wanted to go back and confront him right then. He was sleeping though, something she so rarely saw, and it almost seemed cruel to wake him up especially when he looked so tired.

Eames wished her a good night before Ariadne walked into her room and fell onto her bed. Hating someone, she decided, was not as easy as it sounded. Even with all of the terrible things he had said she knew that if nothing else Arthur was dependable when it came to work. Even if he did not trust them Ariadne knew she could trust him to get the job done at any cost. So even with what he had said, and how much she resented him, 'hate' seemed too strong. She did not hate him, she was not sure she could, because he was Arthur. She did not love him, had never gotten to that point, but even as the happy moments from the last year seemed further away Ariadne knew that they would never fade. 'That's why I keep doing it' he had said and those words seemed to linger more than any of the horrible things he had said over the past week. Ariadne closed her eyes and tried to come up with the right words to describe how she felt about Arthur.

The alarm on her phone went off and Ariadne had never been more thankful to get out of the nightmare. All she could remember was blood on her hands, lots of blood, and a crushing feeling that seemed to take over her entire body. There was an overwhelming guilt that felt like it was trying to consume her. Ariadne forced herself to take a deep breath and calm herself down. Nightmares after working with the PASIV now had almost no visuals but they became emotionally worse. It was as if in her mind the nightmares were worse because there were no clear pictures. Anger became fury, fear became terror, happiness became adulation, it was all so extreme that it sometimes seemed hard to keep up. After taking her sweet time getting ready she was much calmer when she rounded the corner to the office. Cobb's car was parked on the street and he was there with everyone else. The door to the office opened and she creased her eyebrows as she found everyone leaning over Arthur's computer.

“What's going on?” Ariadne asked as she closed the door.

“Fischer delivered the digital tour of Susana's apartment,” Arthur replied and everyone seemed surprised that he spoke to her directly.

“I'll need my own copy so I can start adding specifics to the maze,” she said and he pointed to her desk. One of his extra laptops sat with the tour open and ready for use.

“Already done. Let me know when you're ready to teach me the level,” Arthur said and she nodded. When Ariadne got to her desk her hoodie folded off to the side. She did not acknowledge it and began to work over the tour. There were plenty of places where she could add a paradox that would make things interesting if nothing else. When she looked up everyone was doing their own work. Arthur glanced up and caught her watching him before he looked back at his computer. Everyone made idle conversation and Eames even managed to get some entertaining responses from Arthur. He had called it their banter the first time she heard them talk to each other. The tension in the room seemed so much better and Ariadne wondered if disturbing it was worth talking to Arthur again. If everyone was working better now that meant that the job would go much easier. With the tension gone Arthur might even loosen up and then everyone would not be so worried about him being the dreamer. She was so lost in her head that she did not notice Arthur until he was nearly standing next to her. She jumped and made a noise of surprise when he seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Arthur, do you ever announce your presence so you don't scare the hell out of people?” Ariadne asked and he cocked an eyebrow. “What do you need? The maze isn't done.” Her voice sounded much more defensive than she intended.

“You're good, Ariadne, very good, but even you couldn't get it together that fast. Would be very impressive if you did though,” he said before he leaned over to use the computer. “I need to show you something.” He began to move through the tour and Ariadne was very proud of herself for not reacting despite him being so close. Even before anything had happened between them he had made her stomach twist into a knot just by being close. She started to suspect he knew he had that effect on her not long after they started working together and he would make any attempt he could to innocently distract her. “I found information that she does have a panic room which is great considering it was the only angle we had. It's behind this wall here and the door opens from a latch underneath the picture, since she seems to think this is some cliché movie.”

“Okay, great, but how am I supposed to design the panic room if I don't know what it looks like?” Ariadne asked and looked up him.

“I'm confident that you can do it,” Arthur replied and he turned to look at her. “You're very good after all.” They were looking at each other now and there were only inches between them. He did not let that moment last long before he turned away and moved back to his desk. Ariadne blinked a few times and realized everyone in the room was staring at her. A quick glare sent them all on their way and all of her focus went back to the maze. As always this was just as exciting to her as the dream world. This was her background. She was a designer by trade and the creation aspect behind it all was still new territory. And despite the fact that she wished it was not true, Ariadne knew she wanted to impress Arthur.

\---

The hardest thing about this for Arthur was finding the time they needed to get the job done. He estimated that they would not need more than a day in the dream world to get things done and that was a little over two hours in the real world. Any longer in the dream and the chances of something unpleasant happening increased substantially. He did not want to default to suicide but if that was needed to get the job done, he would pull the trigger. After the tour came in and he managed to talk to Ariadne without giving her an excuse to clock him one, the tension within the team seemed to subside a bit. Eames did everything he could to get a reaction out of him and Arthur fought it with every fiber of his being. Cobb still gave him knowing stares and he knew that Cobb was trying to look out for Ariadne even when he did not consciously know it. Yusuf went over the compound he was going to use on them this time. It did not contain a sedative but it would give them a stronger sense of relaxation that could possibly make it harder to get an effective kick.

He caught himself watching Ariadne more than he should have. When he had woken up with a start in the office in the middle of the night he was not entirely sure how he had gotten there. After putting two and two together and realizing that he had fallen asleep while working, he was surprised to find a sweatshirt draped over his shoulders. It was even more surprising when Arthur realized who it belonged to. It seemed too nice a gesture for someone to make towards someone they hated. He felt a strange combination of relief and frustration over what this entailed. He was frustrated because he was not sure what he had to do to get her to understand that he did not want anything to do with her anymore. At the same time he could not deny the sense of relief that she did not hate him completely.

It was nearly a day later when everyone had left for the night that Arthur found her asleep on one of their benches with a line to the PASIV. Ariadne always looked so peaceful when she slept even if it was chemically induced. He was always jealous of the fact that she always looked so relaxed when in this state. He saw another line to the machine off to the side and thought for a moment that he should go in there and see if she was working on his level. It was a massive violation of privacy to go into a dream uninvited though and the last thing he needed was to bring that lovely tension back to the team. Every logical bone in his body screamed at Arthur as he set his things aside and lay down in the chair opposite of her. And that logic did not stop screaming as he pulled the line out, inserted the needle into a vein, and nodded off.

Arthur stood in the middle of a massive city. There were projections all over that turned and looked at him for only a moment before going about their business. He did not need to look around to know that this maze was massive and would be impossible get through even if he knew every inch. It was eerie knowing he could get lost here even while knowing every inch. Arthur put his hands in his pockets and began to walk around. The detail to the city was even better than the city they had built for Fischer. He was impressed, very impressed, to see how good she really had become in the last year. When he saw her standing on a sidewalk, she was manipulating the dream world, changing the little things. Ariadne turned around and stared at him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked and he was not surprised that she was angry.

“I was curious to know if you were working on the level,” he replied and was not entirely sure if that was the truth. “It looks amazing by the way.”

“Barging in on a dream is really rude, you know,” she said as the world settled and she walked up to him. “I think I need to add more details. It still feels off.”

“Reality isn't perfect. If things were perfect here that would be a bigger indication that something was wrong,” Arthur said and she seemed to think on it for a moment.

“I guess you're right,” Ariadne said and she seemed to relax a bit. “Well since you're here, I might as well give you a guided tour.” He walked with her for what felt like a long time as she pointed out the little details in the maze and the best places to duck in and out of sight. This was, without a doubt, her best work yet. She blushed a bit when he told her that and for some reason that made him smile.

“It's going to take ages to memorize this place and we haven't even gotten to Susana's apartment yet,” Arthur said as he looked around.

“I'm not showing you that yet; it's not done,” she said before she stopped and looked at him. “You look like you're not as rigid. Is that because we're in a dream or are you really feeling better?”

“I was never feeling bad, Ariadne. I told you, this job has much higher stakes than what I'm used to. There usually isn't a lot of danger when it comes to the real world but this is different. This time I think the real world is going to be much worse than anything that woman can come up with in her twisted mind,” he said and it looked like she did not entirely believe him.

“What did you do to get Walter to leave us alone?” Ariadne asked and he really wished people would stop asking that.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? I took care of it and that's all. I'll finish it when the job is over,” Arthur said. He realized she was standing in front of him, much closer than he anticipated.

“We keep asking because we're worried about you, Arthur. I'm going to keep asking because I'm worried,” Ariadne said, her voice low. He tilted her head up with a finger on her chin and gave her the best smile he could muster.

“I can take of myself. I don't like it when people try to protect me,” Arthur said and she smiled a real and true smile.

“That's why I keep doing it,” she said. They stood like that, in the dream, surrounded by her projections that did not seem to mind that he was there at all. As he looked down at her he was once again struck dumb by how beautiful she really was. This was someone who did not belong in this world and he felt like he was somehow responsible for corrupting her. Were it not for him she might have gone back to Paris and lived like a normal person. Now she was in the middle of this mess with a murderer trying to hurt her to get to him. The guilt, he decided, was worse than anything else when it came to this job. If she got hurt because of him he would never forgive himself.

“The timer is going to go off soon so we should probably look over the rest of the maze,” Arthur said as he moved away but she held onto his wrist. Ariadne stood completely still and her eyes watched him carefully as if waiting for something. He just stared back but did nothing when she moved in close, when she took his tie in her hands, and when she pulled him down into a kiss. This was not like when he had used his charm to get her out of his room; this was softer and somehow felt more intense than that moment. Her arms were around his neck and she pulled him in close. Arthur tried to tell his logical mind that he should push her away, that he could not do this anymore, that he would not do this, because it was only denying the inevitable and the waiting for it to all fall apart was too much. Even as all of that ran through his head he still wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and held her close savoring every second he had with her. He had to wake up, he had to get out of here, because when she was this close he could not control himself and this could not happen again.

The sound of the PASIV timer going off was the sound that really pulled Arthur out of the dream. He stared at the ceiling of the office before he ripped the needle from his arm and stood to leave when Ariadne grabbed his wrist, just like in the dream, only this time she was sitting in the lawn chair, the IV hanging off to the side.

“Let me go,” he managed to say and he did not like the sound of his voice. She was staring at him with that same intense expression that Eames had that just made him feel so exposed.

“Arthur, you need to talk to me. What is going on?” she asked and he ripped his arm free of her grasp.

“Nothing is going on, there is nothing here, there never was and there never will be. I won't let anything happen so you're just going to have to move on,” Arthur said but he could not look at her. She would look at him with her big doe eyes and there was no way he could resist those eyes. He would tell her everything and he was not about to express his emotions or fears.

“You really don't want this?” Ariadne asked and her voice sounded small but not entirely upset and for some reason that eased the tension in his shoulders.

“There is nothing to want so just let it go. We have a job to finish and after that I'll be gone,” Arthur said and he looked over his shoulder at her. She was watching him with that same expression and he turned away. “I'm sorry I intruded on your dream. Let me know when the level is complete.” He did not wait for a response; he merely grabbed his bags and walked out of the office without looking back. Ariadne had seen through his facade already, had seen that he did not trust, that he did not care the way she wanted, and he did not want to deal with that anymore. In his mind he repeated the 'I'll be gone' and wondered how much truth was in it. No matter what happened there was one thing he was sure of: he would be out of her life for good.


	13. Chapter 13

It was a relief when they all met in the office the next morning and things did not seem different. Ariadne acted like the dream had never happened and if she could do that then he could do so as well. Instead of dwelling on that, or anything else for that matter, Arthur focused on finding a way to get Susana alone long enough for them to do the job. The more he looked the harder he found it to see any possible way for them to get this done. The maze was nearly complete, he knew it backwards and forwards, and Ariadne was in the process of teaching it to everyone else though not to the degree that he knew it. The closer they were to being absolutely prepared, the more frustrated Arthur became that he could not figure out a way to get the job done. It was late one night after everyone had left and he was staring at his laptop when someone moved across the room. He knew exactly who it was and did not bother to look up.

“Still can't find what you're looking for?” Eames said before he parked himself in a chair next to Arthur’s desk.

“Once again I know the answer is staring me in the face and I have no idea what it is,” Arthur said and he leaned back in his chair. “Maybe I'm losing my touch.”

“Please, you don't know how to do anything else,” Eames said and he grinned. Arthur rolled his eyes and focused on the screen again. “Maybe we're going about this the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?” he asked and the forger looked deep in thought.

“You're too literal so you're looking for a place in her set schedule that would work when maybe we should look for something that isn't happening.”

“Are you going to tell me I lack imagination again because that statement is starting to get old,” Arthur replied and Eames waved him off without looking up.

“Get some imagination and I won't say it anymore.” His voice was its normal mocking tone though Arthur knew that Eames was thinking of something. “I think we need to use Fischer again.”

“He was reluctant the first time. What makes you think he'll be willing now?” Arthur asked but his words seemed lost on the forger’s train of thought.

“She'll need to travel to get to a meeting with him. We can do what we did with Fischer and what you and Cobb did with Saito. The best time to get them is while they are traveling,” Eames said.

“I've considered that but she does not fly for some reason and she rarely takes the train. She'll drive before anything else,” Arthur said.

“People will do anything if there is a sense of urgency,” Eames said with a grin. “If Fischer finds some way to make it worth her while to get there fast, she'll do whatever it takes to get there. Make the call to Fischer and see what he thinks.” Arthur narrowed his eyes before he opened his phone and dialed the number.

“Ah, Arthur, I was wondering when I was going to hear from you again. Did the tour help?” Fischer said without saying hello.

“It was exactly what we needed and the level is complete. We do have a complication that we can't seem to get around,” Arthur said and there was silence on the other end.

“What is the problem?” Fischer asked and there was a certain level of anger in his voice that was hard to miss. Eames was leaning in way too close, trying to listen to the conversation. He tried to push him away but after the third time just gave up.

“Susana has a pattern that she rarely deviates from. I've gone over it hundreds of times and there is nowhere we can get the time we need to get the job done,” Arthur said and there was that same level of silence.

“Are you telling me you can't get the job done?” Fischer asked and Eames gave him a knowing glance. This was not someone who accepted failure.

“I didn't say that at all. What I'm saying is that we need help finding time to get the information you need. If you're not willing to help us, with this then we might have to resort to unconventional tactics to get the time we need. Who knows what will happen if something goes wrong there,” he said and Eames grinned with approval.

“I see. If I want this information I'm going to have to convince her to meet with me again. Otherwise you'll do something stupid and get yourselves caught,” Fischer said before he paused. “How much time do you need?”

“A little over two hours should be enough time for set up, extraction, and getting away without any problems,” Arthur said and Eames leaned in closer so they were almost cheek to cheek.

“I'll ask her to meet me in San Diego on a Saturday. The time will be specific so driving will be out of the question because it will be too busy. Does that work?” Fischer asked.

“Perfect, let me know the time so we can find out what train she is on and we can get this done,” he said and the line went dead.

“Maybe you are getting more creative,” Eames said as he eased away. “She'll be on the next train once Fischer sets up a proper time.”

“I know so we need to be ready. Are you sure you can take care of Dave?” Arthur asked and Eames scoffed.

“I've taken care of worse in reality and dreams. Plus he's madly in love with her and she couldn't give a rat’s ass about him. It makes him much easier to manipulate.” He stood and looked down at him. “Are you going to be okay for the dream? Those projections are going to be gunning for you from the beginning.”

“I can take care of myself,” he said in a low voice.

“I know; you hate it when people try to protect you but that's why I keep doing it,” Eames said and Arthur looked up with wide eyes. A million questions were running through his head as he tried to come up with some logical explanation as to why Eames would know those words. Instead all he could do was stare, struck completely dumb. The forger smiled in a way that he had never seen before turning on his heels and leaving Arthur sitting there in the middle of the office. When everything seemed to be working properly again he gathered his things and hurried off to the hotel. He would snatch a few hours of sleep, wake up before everyone else, and tell them that the job was finally happening..

\---

He waited until everyone was present before he told them that they had a time and a place. There was a certain level of tension throughout the team as it became a reality that they were going into the mind of Susana Mitchell. She was trained and that was all they knew. She was unstable and there was no telling what it was going to be like in there. Cobb announced, much to Arthur’s dismay, that Ariadne was going under with them. Arthur wanted to protest but knew that it would only cause problems so he sat back and let everyone go over the last of the preparations. Yusuf said that in a train it would be hard to give them a kick if needed but Cobb said that they probably would not need one. Arthur knew why; he was not expecting to live long in this dream. None of them were and if they all made it out at the same time it was going to be nothing short of a miracle.

So they went over the plan. They went over the maze again and again. Eames explained how he was going to trick her and win her trust. They discussed using the projections to fuel her paranoia. On paper the entire plan seemed almost perfect. They had a perfect architect, a perfect forger, a perfect extractor but there was a nagging thought in the back of his mind that he could not shake. Most jobs looked perfect on paper but rarely went as planned. The most basic job could go astray if the slightest detail was off. That was enough to set him on edge. Even after so many jobs, he never went in feeling confident because there was just too much at stake. Things could go horribly wrong in the dream and in the real world as well. Dave would be armed and if he got a shot off he could kill one of them easily. If Eames did not incapacitate him right away things could get complicated fast. So even after all of the careful planning he was still pacing and deep in thought.

“You seem on edge.” Ariadne stood next to him as he leaned against the table.

“There are a lot of things that could go wrong here,” he said without looking at her.

“And you don't like it when things are so out of control,” she said and he smiled to himself because she knew that part of him well.

“Yes, you know that better than anyone,” Arthur replied and he looked at her for the first time. She was not trying to close the distance between them, she was not turning to face him in any way, she was just leaning against the desk with him. Ariadne looked up and smiled. “Look, I'm sorry for what happened in the dream the other day. I was out of line. You said that we're done and I understand that. What I don't want is to lose a friend. Can we be friends, Arthur?” She offered a hand as a peace offering and he thought about not taking it. He thought about all of the people throughout his life who had walked away because they had attempted to associate with him but things had all fallen apart. He thought about the moment in his young life when he had first found out that his aunt had drained the trust fund his late parents left for her to manage. He thought about how she had taken all of that money and left him with nothing. He thought of the countless times those around him proved over and over again that no one was trustworthy.

“With friendship comes trust,” he said and she smiled at him.

“I'll do the trusting for both of us,” Ariadne said and kept her hand extended. It was the first time he could ever remember someone accepting the fact that he did not trust them. Arthur stared at it for what felt like a long time before he took her hand and clasped it tightly. “Friends?”

“Friends,” he replied and the two of them stayed side by side for what felt like forever. Her presence was calming, it always had been, and it helped clear his head. It was almost relaxing to know that she was his friend again. It was like the way things had been during the inception job before the last year happened. He was grateful for that and it helped him ease back into place within the rest of the group. Eames nodded to him and Cobb patted his shoulder while Yusuf took back the last of the sedative when he said he would not need it anymore. These people were the reason he closed himself off and letting them think he was letting them back in was the right way to end things. Arthur had more or less accepted that, if nothing else, he was not going to walk away from his encounter with Walter unharmed. Seeing everyone relax made it worth it though because it made everything easier.

They were in the middle of going through the maze when Fischer called and said that he had a time picked out for his meeting with Susana. A quick search through the records and he found the exact train she would be taking. Everyone gathered their things without a word and Arthur clasped the PASIV in his hand tightly. In his pocket he could feel his die waiting to show him reality when this was all over. The ending was in sight and he had never been more grateful. No more blackmail, no more side stepping issues, no more any of it, this was the end one way or another.

\---

Ariadne was more nervous going into this job than any before. This was not the first time she had dealt with a trained sub conscious since the Fischer job, but despite how no one else would talk about it this was different. They were going into the mind of a twisted person and no matter what they did there was no way to predict what would happen in that world. It was her maze and she knew it better than anyone but moving through it surrounded by the mark’s projections instead of her own, instead of Arthur's, was going to make it seem like a different world. She felt like a fool after he invaded her dream and she kissed him. Despite the fact that he had wrapped his arms around her in the dream it really did not mean much because as soon as they were awake he was out the door. She realized that he had made his choice and it was time she accepted it despite how much it hurt. Arthur did not want her, he did not want whatever they had had, and it was time to move on. Despite that Ariadne could not walk away on such a bad note so she had confronted him one last time and extended an olive branch of friendship. He had been reluctant at first but eventually seemed to warm up to the idea.

The train station was very busy but even despite that it was not hard to spot Susana. Her fire red hair was up in a tight bun and her eyes darted everywhere as she walked along. Dave was next to her and he seemed to be watching the entire world like if it went anywhere near her he would kill it himself. Eames tilted his head to the side as he watched them.

“He's armed,” he said.

“One pistol in his belt and he's walking like he has another on his ankle,” Arthur said. The two of them stood side by side and she noticed that they both had that same expression on their faces. They were trying to get a handle on the situation.

“Who actually puts a pistol around their ankle? Seems like such an amateur thing to do,” Eames said and Arthur scoffed.

“That guy is anything but an amateur. Are you going to be able to take him?” he said and the forger did not say anything; he merely nodded. There was something in his eyes that she had never seen and it was like the first time she had truly seen Arthur angry; this was a dangerous person. If she had seen Eames for the first time at this moment he would have terrified her without even meaning to.

“We need to remember the plan,” Cobb said as he joined them. No one agreed vocally but it did not need to be said. The plan was really the only thing they could go with in this situation. Everything else was too complicated to try and plan. It was probably giving Arthur another migraine but if he was in pain he was hiding it well. Susana had bought out an entire car which was not a surprise in the slightest. Still it was easy for Eames to lace the water that was going into their car while flirting with the waitress. He was a thief but this was the first time she had ever really seen him try and work that magic. A flick of the wrist and the waters were done. They watched the water go into the car and waited silently for it to take effect.

That was the first thing that went wrong. Eames cursed loudly and walked back to their section of the car. They were nearly alone but they still did not want to catch the eyes of anyone.

“The bastard didn't take a sip of his water; he's still wide awake,” he said and Ariadne felt her stomach twist into a knot. “Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way.” He looked at Arthur and he nodded. She seemed to be the only one out of the loop. Eames cracked his neck before he walked right into the private car. She could see what was going on through a small window.

“Hey, you, this is a private car,” Dave said and he moved toward Eames with a hand inching toward his belt. Eames turned so he was facing the door and Dave had his back to them.

“Whoa, it's all right, I'm just passing through, no troubles,” he said holding up his hands in salute.

“Everything you need you can get on the other side, now beat it.” Dave did not sound happy and Ariadne realized what a huge risk this really was. Arthur moved silently behind the bodyguard and pulled him into a choke hold. Arthur was strong, she knew this, but this man was considerably larger and built like a wrestler. Dave struggled and managed to toss Arthur off to the side. “Big mistake little man,” Dave said and her heart nearly stopped when he reached for his gun. Eames wasted no time punching the bodyguard hard enough to stun and Arthur regained his choke hold until Dave fell to the ground. Not only could they have easily been shot but now he knew their faces. It made a lump form in her throat as they all moved from the passenger car to the private one, closing the blinds and locking the door. Yusuf knelt in front Dave and gave him the drug that would keep him out for several hours.

“I can scramble his memory a little but if he sees you two he's probably going to remember, if only a little, what happened,” he said.

“Brilliant,” Eames said sighing heavily. “As if I wasn't already a wanted man. Now you get to join the ranks of the hunted.” He slapped Arthur's shoulder, receiving a dark glare in response. Arthur finished setting up the PASIV and Eames disarmed Dave. He handed Yusuf one of the guns and the chemist looked at him confused. “In case he wakes up.”

“Just wonderful,” Yusuf muttered. All of the lines from the PASIV were drawn and Ariadne slipped the needle into her arm. Cobb set up Susana's line before he placed his own.

“We have roughly a day in there to try and convince her to put all of her secrets in that panic room,” he said.

“While being chased around by trained and possibly psychotic projections,” Eames added as he set his own line.

“Well when you say it that way it doesn't sound as fun,” Ariadne muttered and he grinned at her. The timer was set and she took a deep breath, exchanging brief looks with everyone on the team. Yusuf pushed the button and she felt the rush of the chemicals.

“Good luck.”


	14. Chapter 14

Ariadne blinked and took in her surroundings. The city was bright and lit up by a clear blue sky like it was the middle of the day. Projections were moving around her and she held her breath for a moment, waiting to see if they would react right away. There was no movement and no one looked at her and she breathed a sigh of relief. Down the street she could see Cobb making his way toward her. He gestured to the left and made his way down the alley. She knew where he was going and she followed quickly though not so much as to drawn attention to herself. Eames and Arthur were already there when she joined Cobb. They all seemed a little uneasy.

“All right, let's do this,” Cobb said and Ariadne took a deep breath and released it. “Eames, you need to go meet her as Dave. She won't go anywhere without you. We'll stay close behind because as soon as you meet with her the projections are going to attack. We'll have a car off to the side that you can duck into. From there it's just a matter of feeding her paranoia until she agrees that the panic room is the best bet.”

“They'll be looking for me,” Arthur said. “If things get too heavy I'll draw them away.”

“You'll lead them on a merry chase?” Eames asked grinning.

“Something like that,” he replied not taking the bait.

“The longer we stay, the higher the chance that Susana will realize she's dreaming,” Cobb said. No one said a word as Eames stood in front a mirror and before her eyes he changed into Dave. It still amazed her whenever he forged into a different person. It was an eerie sight. They moved through the maze and found Susana standing on the corner looking impatient. They were within earshot and Arthur and Cobb already had their guns in hand. No one knew the maze better than her, that was what Cobb had said when he told her she was coming under, and if they were all distracted by the projections then she had to guide them.

“There you are,” Susana hissed. “I've been waiting out here forever. I know you had to run off and take care of some personal business but I'm not paying you to do your own thing.”

“I'm sorry,” Eames said with Dave's voice and things suddenly got tense. “What are your plans for the day?”

“They're catching on a lot faster than I thought they would,” Cobb muttered.

“I'll draw their attention and you get the car ready. This is going to get ugly fast,” Arthur said and he moved into the shadows. Ariadne watched him for a moment before she looked back. These projections felt so different from any other she had seen before.

“Cobb, I'm not sure these are going to react the way we think they are,” she whispered as they all seemed to be looking in the direction of Arthur.

“I agree. There's something very wrong here. The sooner we get into that van, the better I'll feel,” Cobb said. “I think you should drive.”

“Are you insane?” Ariadne asked and she really thought he had completely lost his mind.

“No, I'm serious. Something isn't right and I want to be able to fight. I need you to drive.” He handed her the keys and she felt a little sick to her stomach. Nevertheless she took the keys and they moved toward the car as Eames talked to Susana. That was when the first gunshot fired and everything went chaotic. Eames covered Susana as she screamed and from the side Arthur was firing as he cleared a path for them. Cobb opened the door to the van and Eames eased Susana into it as the gunfire erupted. Arthur moved through the masses that were trying to attack him before it all seemed to slow down for her. There was an armed projection moving at his back with a gun raised. If Arthur went down the entire dream would collapse and the job would be over. Ariadne was about to scream that he had to turn around when he turned just in side to see it. His eyes widened before the projection shot him in the shoulder instead of the head. He reeled back in pain before he shot the projection back. Cobb pulled him into the car and Ariadne started to race through the streets.

“What the hell was that? Who were those people? Who are these people?” Susana asked in a panic as Cobb moved over to look at Arthur who was wincing in pain.

“Friends of mine from the old days,” Eames said. “Someone must be trying to hurt you.” Eames tried to plant the first seed of doubt to feed her paranoia.

“No, that can't be true, it can't be. No one would dare come after me, not after what I did to the last person who did,” she said and her voice was dark. Cobb looked up and moved next to her.

“Ma'am, I only know what Dave has told me but you need to tell me everything. Maybe someone working for this other person is gunning for revenge,” he said and it was so hard for Ariadne to focus on driving when she could hear Arthur in pain. There was nothing they could do though, he could not wake up, or everything would be in vain. He was going to suffer and that made her heart ache.

“Pull over, I'm going to drive,” Eames said and she nodded. They switched as Eames took the wheel and they began to move through the maze. He seemed to know that she could not focus.

“Who is she? She doesn't look like someone from the old days,” Susana said and her voice was cold.

“She does our research,” Cobb said lying flawlessly. “She's the best at what she does but we weren't able to find out anything about this man you're talking about.” Ariadne hardly had the focus to go along with the lie as she moved over to Arthur.

“I don't understand,” he hissed. “They had a clear shot, why did they shoot my shoulder?” She did not have an answer for him so she took off her scarf.

“This is going to hurt,” she muttered before she tied it around the wound. From the way he hissed and clenched his jaw, she knew it hurt much more than he was letting on. Susana went on to explain how the last person who had tried to attack her ended up very much dead after a long interrogation. A realization sank into Cobb's eyes as he looked back at Arthur. She was describing torture and how she enjoyed every second of it. Her subconscious was not only trained but twisted so that its first reaction was not just to kill but to make the kill as painful as possible.

“It looks like we've lost them for now,” Susana muttered. “I'll find out who they are and make them pay. No one goes after Susana Mitchell and gets away with it.” Another shot rang out and Eames swerved to keep from going off the road. The motion slammed Ariadne against the side of the van and she winced when she reached back and felt blood. Eames drove into a dark section of the city to one of the first hiding spots Ariadne had built into the dream. They rushed out of the car and Eames took Susana to the back room so he could try and get her to reveal more about what she had done in the past. Cobb eased Arthur, who was trying so hard to stand tall, out of the car.

“So now we know her projections want to torture us. Great,” Arthur deadpanned.

“Are you going to be all right?” Cobb asked and Arthur kept his face blank.

“We need to finish the job,” was all he said and Ariadne knew that he was not going to admit anything. Cobb seemed to know it as well because he left to join Eames and Susana, hoping to add some fuel to the fire. Ariadne wanted to say something that would help, she wanted to comfort him in some way, she wanted to ease the obvious pain he was in, but nothing came to mind. Even an 'I'm sorry' felt hollow. So instead Ariadne reached forward and squeezed his hand. Arthur opened his eyes and looked down at their hands; nothing in his expression changed. “If they get a hold of you I want you to kill yourself without a second thought.”

“What are you talking about? You're going to need all the help you can get in here,” she said and Arthur shook his head.

“If you won't pull the trigger, I will. I will not stand by and let this sick woman's psyche torture you or anyone else,” he said. Ariadne wanted to disagree and fight him on the matter but one look at him and she knew he was deadly serious. He would sooner put a bullet in her or anyone's head and leave himself to rot. It was like any of the other jobs they’d taken, in which Arthur would sit by and let himself get torn to pieces while he used his last bullet to get everyone else out. So she nodded and that seemed to satisfy him as far as an answer went. “Go see if they need help.” Ariadne stood and walked toward the back room where Eames stood next to Susana while Cobb continued to try to convince her she was in danger.

“No one can hurt me, they wouldn't dare,” she insisted and Ariadne knew they were going to need more time to convince her that she needed to go to her panic room. She glanced over her shoulder and watched as Arthur seemed to withdraw inside himself to deal with the pain. There were still twenty two hours left of the dream and he was going to be in agony the entire time. And the more Susana ranted about the horrible things she had done to people in the past, the tighter the knot in Ariadne's stomach formed. This woman was going to torture them in this dream and if she ever found them in the real world she would do the same. It was enough that she thought about pulling the trigger now but when Cobb looked over his shoulder at her she knew that they needed her. And that knowledge was enough to keep her finger off of the trigger. For now.

\---

This was not the first time Arthur had been shot. The number of times this had happened during dream jobs were so many that he had since lost count. In reality, however, there were only four times that a real bullet had passed through his flesh. Considering how long he had been doing this job, most people were amazed at how he seemed to walk away with almost no wounds. There were a few times when the group had been taken by surprise and things had gone bad. The pain did not linger because there was always someone there willing to put him out of his misery. In a dream it was a bullet between the eyes as soon as possible. It was cruel to let someone suffer in a dream when waking them up was so easy. Most of the time they had just woken him up. In the real world his connections in the criminal world brought him plenty of doctors and painkillers so strong that he would spend days staring into space. That was the crucial part of all of his interactions with guns: there was always something to ease the pain.

This time was different. He was the dreamer, they only had one shot at this, and there was nothing anyone could do to ease his pain. So Arthur rested his head against the wall and tried to focus on the cool metal on his back, on their next move. The shot was clean and the bullet had gone right through. The bleeding was the thing that they were having trouble controlling. A shot at such a short range had blasted a hole in his flesh. They found some bandages lying around but even then he knew that the wound was still bleeding. The projections enacting Susana's taste for torture was not something they had expected. Projections could mirror a person to an extent. Cobb had projected Mal and she had become something else. She had been twisted, had become something Cobb could not control, something deadly. If Cobb could twist one projection like that then what was to stop a person from doing it to the entirety of their mind? These projections moved like a unit but he had a feeling they could easily break away and work alone. They were organized in a way that he had never seen before. They were in trouble because not only were they being hunted by projections but they had the intension of making the death as painful as possible.

“We're getting nowhere fast,” Cobb said as he walked over with Ariadne and closed the door behind them. “She is convinced that they must be after us since no one would cross her.”

“Maybe those bragging rights will come in handy,” Arthur said and he hated the looks that they gave him. “And I'm fine, I'll be fine.”

“What do you mean?” Ariadne asked thankfully not pursuing the issue farther.

“No one is perfect at covering their tracks and it's the reason we're here in the first place. I can almost guarantee that on top of the information that Fischer wants, there is information out there about other things that could incriminate her,” he said while Cobb and Ariadne exchanged glances. “If nothing else it will give Eames and I time to disappear.” No one added anything because they knew it was true. Dave had gotten a good luck at both of them and Susana would use her power to track them down. If what she said was true they would have to cease to exist rather than just disappear. Eames emerged from the room, still in the guise of the bodyguard, not long after.

“I'm starting to convince her that she needs to go somewhere safe. How long before the projections close in?” A gun shot fired and broke one of the windows, sending shards of glass to the ground. “I guess that answers that question.”

“Time to move,” Cobb said and he raced over to the van to get things ready. Ariadne knelt in front of Arthur and offered a hand.

“May I have this dance?” Her joke made Arthur roll his eyes but he took her hand and let her help him to his feet. The world spun a bit and he had to blink back spots. He was losing blood a lot faster than he had thought. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he lied and steadied himself. Arthur walked toward the van but stopped to shoot a projection that was taking aim at them from the broken window. More shots rang out as Eames pulled Susana into the van and Ariadne climbed into the passenger seat. When they were all loaded into the car Cobb stepped on the gas, rushing the van forward and turning onto the road so fast that for a moment Arthur swore they were riding on two wheels and not four. . They were on their way to the next location and there were only four total. Arthur was not sure what would happen if they could not convince this woman to take them to the safe room soon. More gunfire made Cobb swerve a little as he tried to make his way through traffic while more projections chased them.

“Are they still following us?” Susana asked as she covered her ears with her hands.

“It’s because they want to hurt you,” Eames said using the guard’s voice. There were times when Arthur found it hard to remember that Eames was in there at all. “We need to get somewhere safe until we can figure out what to do next.”

“What about you? Doesn't your little posse have somewhere we can hide out?” she asked.

“Several places in fact,” Arthur said as he looked over the edge of the window as cars gained on them. “But things are getting complicated.”

“Like I give a shit what happens to you,” Susana spit out. Arthur had expected nothing less. The gun fire was closer now and he could hear it hit the car. They were trying blow out the tires.

“Move to the side,” he ordered and for half a second the facade of Dave faltered.

“What are you doing?” Eames asked. Arthur did not respond when he opened one side of the two way back door to the van. The movements of Cobb's driving made it hard to keep steady but he held up two pistols and fired. Another round of shots came at him and he ducked behind the closed door before he calmed his nerves and focused. Arthur moved into view again and fired two shots, watching as the tires of their pursuers exploded and caused them to run off the road. The van jerked and Arthur fell back. He nearly bit a hole through his tongue as he tried to hide the pain. Eames slammed the door shut but did not say a word. Ariadne turned in the passenger seat and looked at him. She was worried but he did not say anything; he just adjusted the bandages on his shoulders and reminded himself that when this was over the pain would be gone. They moved to the next location and Susana seemed much more rattled now. When they got to the second warehouse Cobb wasted no time before he jumped out of the car, opened the doors, and knelt in front of the shaking Susana.

“Ms. Mitchell, we are here to protect you but we can't do that if we can't regroup. Do you have somewhere we can go, somewhere secret, somewhere safe?” he asked and there was a level of desperation in his voice that Arthur knew was not an act. The word 'secret' though was the thing that needed to be said. Somewhere safe where she would keep all of her secrets, that was the idea that they were trying to trick her mind with. Susana stared at him until they all heard the sound of more gunfire.

“All right, all right. I have a panic room in my apartment,” she confessed.

“We need to go there. Please, Susana, please let us go there,” Eames said playing the part of the worried bodyguard with no problems. The projections moved in closer and Cobb insisted that Ariadne drive again. Arthur knew that nothing short of an army was coming after them. Eames tried to help when he could but he had to make sure his focus was on Susana. Dave was willing to die for her and he had to keep up that guise. When the apartment building finally came into focus Arthur counted no less than six cars following them. They needed to get to the second maze and get some space between them and their pursuers. He raised both of his guns to fight off the projections with his wounded shoulder screaming at him, blood running down his arm. They managed to close and block the door.

“That won't hold them long. We need to move,” Cobb said as they rushed through the lobby of the building. The sound of a single gunshot froze Arthur in place and he turned around slowly.


	15. Chapter 15

The sound of a gunshot going off made Ariadne jump. This was not like the other gunshots because the projections were outside. Arthur's eyes were wide and she turned to see Cobb on the ground clutching his leg. The projection that was managing the desk of the apartment building had changed right before their eyes. Eames fired a shot and the man went down. There was no way Cobb was going to be able to move from that spot let alone run through the second maze. Eames shouted that they needed to keep moving and went for the elevators. There was a darkness in Arthur's eyes and he did not move. Ariadne rushed over and knelt in front of the extractor.

“Eames and Arthur both know how to do this but you need to help them,” he said as he pushed the gun into her hands. “Will you wake me up, Ariadne?” This was the first time anyone had asked her to wake them up like this. Arthur had shot her in the head plenty of times but there was never a time when she had had to shoot him. Now a gun was in her hands and Cobb was asking her to put him out of his misery because once the projections broke through there was no telling what they would do to him. She had to pull the trigger and wake him up, she had to, and her finger was hovering over the trigger when there was a single shot and Cobb fell to the ground lifeless. Ariadne looked over her shoulder and saw Arthur lowering his gun slowly.

“Come on,” he said and she followed quickly, clutching the gun in her hands as they rode the elevator up. Arthur and Eames exited first and kept their backs to each other with their guns raised. Ariadne took Susana by the arm and they began to make their way through the maze. The projections were closing in again and they had to make it through the apartment maze. There were loops that would make it seem like they were not going as far as they thought they were. Susana seemed to be less tense here than anywhere else.

“We need to get to that panic room. They're going to gain on us eventually,” Arthur said and she could see his eyes dart around the maze looking for any movement. This maze was different from the one in the city, it was more like the hotel that she had designed for the inception job. It was confined and felt small without a lot of room to move around in although it was really quite big.

“How do I know you're not going to just turn on me when we get in there?” Susana asked and there was the paranoia kicking in. Arthur turned and looked at her with narrowed eyes.

“I took a bullet trying to get you out alive. Do you really think I'd do that and then turn around and kill you?” His voice was intense, hard, and Eames cocked an eyebrow. “If you want we can leave now and we'll see how many your boy here can fight off alone.” There was an uneasy silence as Susana stared him down but Arthur did not waver.

“Fine but don't expect anything when this is over. The way I see it, I'm doing you a favor,” she said and Ariadne could hardly contain her surprise. It made no sense that Susana was doing them as a favor as they risked their lives to protect her but Ariadne did not dwell on that.. There was no time to think on that because the door burst open and there was the sound of the projections piling in.

“We need to get to the panic room,” Eames said to Susana. She nodded and they continued through the maze. Something did not feel right though. Ariadne was not sure what it was but something in this maze felt very wrong. She tried to catch Arthur's eye to see if he felt it too, but he was too distracted trying to keep them alive. Instead she kept her eyes open for anything that would give away what she was feeling. A swarm of projections came around the corner and the gunfire started again. Eames and Arthur took front and center as they picked away at them one by one and Ariadne fired the gun a few times, surprised by how easy it really was to hold. She guessed it had something to do with being in the dream world but when she took out a projection or two it really did not matter. Susana came to the wall that concealed the panic room, punched the code in andthe doors opened. She raced in and Ariadne followed suit as Arthur and Eames backed up slowly, trying to keep the projections at bay. A bullet pierced Eames' stomach and it sent him to the ground. Susana made a noise that sounded like surprise and Arthur knelt down in front of him.

“Go, you idiot,” Eames said in his own voice. The doors to the panic room closed and there was a single shot outside. There were no screams and Ariadne knew that Eames must have managed to wake himself up without any problems. Now it was just the three of them in the panic room she had designed. It was about the size of a large bedroom, ten by ten, with a small bed in a corner with a phone. Ariadne noticed a small safe under the bed and her heart soared. Cobb had said that Susana would hide her secrets here because it was a safe place.

“What are we going to do now?” Susana asked and she sounded out of breath. Ariadne glanced at Arthur and saw that he had noticed the safe as well.

“We need something that will fend them off for now,” he said as he met Susana's eyes. Ariadne was worried; his wound was still bleeding and he looked far too pale.

“Like what?” Susana asked and that same feeling that something was wrong settled in Ariadne's stomach.

“Do you have something hidden that we could use? Something secret? Something that we could use against them to make them give up and go away?” Arthur asked and she nodded a few times. Susana walked over and knelt in front of the safe. She opened it easily and reached in and handed Arthur a folder.

“Here is something about the person I think is attacking us. He is someone who wants me silenced,” she said as he took the folder.

“Who is that?” Arthur asked.

“Robert Fischer,” she said and he nodded as he kept that same blank face.

“I need to watch the door; I'll let her look it over,” Arthur said and handed the folder off to Ariadne. As soon as she opened it, she committed every word she read to memory. Arthur was right; there were locations to where bodies were buried as well as other things Susana had on Fischer. It traced back to a dirty deal Browning had done just before Maurice Fischer died, a link that would ruin Robert Fischer’s new empire before it ever got off the ground.

“Like what you see?” Susana asked and Ariadne looked up to see the barrel of a gun. Her heart skipped a few beats. “Drop your weapon, both of you.” Arthur set his gun down and raised his hands in surrender. Susana snatched the folder back and the look in her eyes was terrifying. “I had my doubts but now I'm positive.”

“Positive about what?” Ariadne asked as she raised her own hands, surprised that she was even able to speak. Susana smirked.

“That this is a dream and you're here to extract information from me,” she said and something happened to Arthur's posture. His jaw clenched and his muscles went rigid. “Ah, well, it doesn't matter. I'm assuming that the timer is not due to go off yet so I'll just have to improvise. My projections can't get in here, I'm sure you made it safe for a reason, so that gives me all the time in the world.”

“To do what?” Arthur asked and his voice was low and deadly.

“To hurt you so badly that you forget everything you read, of course,” Susana said and her smile was far too happy, far too excited, for someone who had just admitted that she was going to perform torture. Ariadne tried to hide her fear the best she could but she knew that, deep down, she did not have the resolve for the type of things that this woman was capable of. She looked up and met Arthur's eyes; he was stone cold and his face revealed nothing. She wondered if maybe he had not meant what he had said about keeping her safe, about making sure that this woman did not torture any of them, that he was going back on his word. In the blink of an eye he moved fast enough that he kicked Susana's feet from underneath her and sent the woman to the ground. He dove to the ground, picked up one of the guns and time seemed to slow down again, like when the projection had almost killed him, as he raised the gun to point at her. Ariadne wanted to scream, she wanted to tell him to stop, because anything he did would just cause this woman's rage to turn on him and he had no way of waking himself up. Arthur gave her a half smile and pulled the trigger.

Ariadne woke with a start as she tried to slow her breathing. Eames was next to her with a hand on her arm. He said things to try and calm her down but it was the latent effect of being shot that left her breathless.

“What happened?” Cobb asked and he glanced over at the machine that Susana and Arthur were both still hooked up to. “Why is Arthur still in there?”

“She knew, she knew why we were there, she knew she was dreaming. I got all of the information and she said she was going to torture me so I would forget all of it,” Ariadne said as she tried to catch her breath. “Arthur, he managed to get the gun away from her to wake me up but now, now he's stuck in there alone with her.” The silence in the car was deafening before Eames rushed over and shook Arthur a few times before the motions became more violent. He seemed to be getting more and more frustrated as the point man failed to wake up before Eames slapped Arthur across the face, hard. There was a level of desperation in his movements that she had never seen in him before.

“We have to pull the line,” Eames said as he reached for the needle in Arthur's arm but Yusuf stopped him.

“He's the dreamer; if you do that you could drop him into limbo or worse,” the chemist said. Eames ripped his arm free.

“I'm sure he'd rather be dead than stuck in there with a sociopath for however many hours are left on the clock. Why can't we get a kick to work?” his voice was loud now and Cobb took him by the shirt.

“Because we had to add a relaxation component to keep Susana's subconscious from getting completely out of hand. You know that,” Cobb said. “I get that you care about him, we all do, but we can't pull the line and he's too relaxed for a kick.”

“So he's stuck in there?” Ariadne asked as she watched Arthur sleep. His eyebrows were creased like he was in deep thought but he did not move.

“There's an hour and twenty minutes left on the clock, how long is that in the dream?” Eames asked and no one answered. “How long?”

“Sixteen hours,” Cobb said finally. “There are sixteen hours left in the dream before the timer goes off.” There was an uneasy silence as Eames stared down at Arthur with an intense expression on his face. Ariadne could only stare as the timer on the PASIV slowly counted down.

\---

Susana landed a sharp kick to Arthur's wounded shoulder and it was enough to knock the gun from his hands. Ariadne’s body was still on the ground and he knew that she had woken up. It was comfort enough that everyone had managed to get out without any problems. He was okay with that despite the aching in his shoulder. She knelt down next to him and tilted her head to the side as if she was confused by his actions.

“Why would you do that? Now you're the only one I can play with,” she said and the hurt in her voice mimicked that of a child confused as to why their favorite toy was taken away. Arthur did not say a word because he knew she was going to try and get some information out of him. If he told her a few things then it might come back to her later when she was awake and there was no way he was going to risk anyone's safety just because she was going to hurt him. Susana used her foot to roll him over and stared down at him with a blank expression. “Why aren't you fighting me? Why aren't you begging?”

“Would it do any good if I did?” Arthur asked and she grinned.

“It's more fun that way.” Susana knelt down and looked at the wound on his shoulder. “My goodness, that does look like it hurts. You've probably lost quite a bit of blood now, haven't you?” He only stared back at her; he would not give her the pleasure of any kind of reaction. She did not seem to like this approach because she put a hand on his shoulder and leaned over him putting her entire weight on the wound. The pain that shot through his arm and down his spine was enough to take his breath away but even then he bit his tongue and tried to keep his face as blank as possible. Susana grinned as she looked down at him. “I can see in your eyes that this hurts oh so bad. I also see that you are going to try and keep silent for me. You do know what happens when you deny a lady something?” She leaned in close and the stars danced in front of his eyes from the pain. “She takes it by force.”

“You can take whatever you want,” Arthur spit back. “But you're not getting any information out of me.”

“Who said anything about information? I'll find out who you are up above, no problem, and I'll take care of you then. As for now, the only thing I want from you is a scream,” Susana said and he was 100% sure that this woman was serious. She was going to do whatever it took to make him scream in pain. A gun was just out of arms reach and if he could just get to it he could pull the trigger and wake up. He knew that they were trying to figure out a way to wake him up in the real world but there were few options. The relaxation medication they had added to the chemicals made it hard to get a kick and removing the needle directly came with the chance that he could fall into limbo or die. The job so far had taken them roughly eight hours and they were set to be in the dream for twenty-four. He either had to find a way to wake himself up or she was going to torture him for sixteen hours straight. Despite the blood loss and blinding pain Arthur shoved Susana aside and scrambled for one of the guns. All he needed was one second and he could be done with this. His hand was inches away when he heard the sound of another gun cocking into place behind him. “Clever, but if you even move, I'll put one in your kneecap.” He went still, the knowledge of how much that hurt a clear memory in his mind thanks to Mal. Instead of shooting him she kicked him hard in the ribs and there was the loud crack of snapping bones. She kicked him again and Arthur told himself over and over that this was okay, this was worth it, because when he finally woke up the job would be over. He was the one who had failed to cover their tracks so he had to be the one to pay the price. Not them, not any of them, because this was his fault.

The third kick was hard enough that he coughed up a bit of blood. Arthur looked up and he could see Susana looking down at him with the gun raised, her eyes wide, and a wicked grin on her lips. She was loving every second of this and he knew she was just getting started. There were only so many options for what he could do now. He could take another bullet and try to get another gun or he could try to fight her directly. He was a trained fighter but he had no idea what to expect from her. He was also wounded so she had the upper hand no matter what he did. His shoulder ached, it hurt to breathe now, and never before in his life had he wanted to die this badly. Susana was screaming, mocking him, laughing about how there was nothing he could do. She said she was going to make him beg to be woken up and that she would not grant that request.

He finally decided that he would not sit back and let this woman taunt him anymore. While she was busy trying to get a reaction out of him, Arthur scrambled over to one of the other guns in the room. There was a shot and the pain that hit his back was almost enough to make him black out. She had shot him, and he hesitated to give Susana the satisfaction of knowing that she had stopped him before he grabbed the gun, turned, and shot her in the stomach. Blood began to pour from the wound and she looked at him in complete shock. She clenched the wound on her stomach before she unloaded her entire round into his knees, his shoulder, anywhere she could and this time Arthur was unable to hold back the screams of pain. It was worse than anything he had ever felt before. He was bleeding to death, that was how he was going to wake up, he realized, he was going to bleed to death.

“I'm not letting you get out of here easily,” Susana spit at him as she took both of the other pistols and locked them in her safe. She showed him that the gun she held had one bullet left. “See? I can end my pain but now you have to die slowly.” With those words she pulled the trigger and fell to the ground. The dream began to collapse around him but Arthur could not move. He tried so he could find some way of getting out before the ceiling collapsed on him. In the end, he decided it really did not matter if the dream fell apart because everything was going numb, he could not feel anything but pain, and Arthur wondered if this was what death was really like.


	16. Chapter 16

Everyone went from melancholy to tense the moment Susana began to stir. Yusuf dug through his bag and found a sedative as they all waited for her eyes to open. The moment they did he dropped the chemical and put her back to sleep. Ariadne chewed on the tip of her thumb as she watched Arthur. Everyone was completely silent as they waited for some sort of reaction and when his eyes opened very slowly she did not care what he thought, Ariadne threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Arthur sat completely still for what felt like a long time before he hugged her back loosely. She pulled away and looked at him.

“We were so worried,” she said. “I was worried you were going to be stuck with that woman until the timer ran out.”

“No, I managed to get out,” he said and there was something different about his voice. She noticed it, Eames seemed to notice, too, and everyone looked at him differently.

“What happened down there?” Eames asked and Arthur shook his head before he moved out of Ariadne's embrace.

“It's not important. We have the information right?” he asked and she nodded. “Then let's get out of here.” There was an uneasy silence as everyone moved to gather the equipment. Cobb said that they needed to get off at the next stop and no one disagreed. Once she stepped off the train Ariadne felt infinitely better. The job was finally behind them and the only thing left to do now was to hand the information to Fischer while sending the rest to the police. Arthur was right; if nothing else the investigation into Susana Mitchell’s affairs would give them all time to escape. She thought about what she was going to do next and her stomach twisted a bit because she wanted to go back to Rome, she wanted to see the city and take it all in, but now she would have to go alone.

As they all made their way back to LA everyone took their own paths. Yusuf and Cobb took the train back while Arthur seemed more keen on taking a taxi despite the amount of money it would cost him. As he walked away Ariadne glanced at Eames. They had a silent conversation with their eyes before they both walked over and joined Arthur.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he looked between them obviously confused.

“The cab will be cheaper with three of us instead of just you. Makes sense, right?” Eames said and the two of them stared at each other without moving. A taxi pulled up to the edge of the road and honked as it waited for them to make up their minds.

“Come on, we need to get going,” Ariadne said as she put the bags into the trunk and climbed into the back of the cab. Their staring contest seemed to continue until Eames took Arthur by his upper arm, forced the PASIV and other his other luggage out of his fingers, and practically threw him into the back of the car before he closed the trunk and sat next to him. The back of the cab was a little tight and Arthur did not look happy to be in the middle. The cab started off and there was no going back now.

“You could have sat up front, Eames,” he said, his voice low.

“Oh, I didn't even think of that,” Eames said feigning innocence. Arthur glared at him before he sat back and crossed his arms, that familiar cold expression falling into place. “So when are you going to tell us about what happened?”

“There's nothing to discuss,” Arthur said without looking at either of them.

“I was there, Arthur,” Ariadne said in a low voice. “She had every intention of making us bleed. You were down there with her for nearly an hour; you can't tell me nothing happened.”

“It wasn't real so it doesn't matter,” he said and Eames smacked him upside the head. “What was that for?”

“You know what,” Eames said before he leaned forward and gave the cabbie an extra twenty. “I'm going to close the little gap between us and you're going to turn up your music. Sound like a good plan?” The cabbie nodded as Eames closed the gap and the music went up. “You know as well as I do that just because it wasn't real doesn't make it feel any less real.”

“I'm not discussing this with you, either of you. Is that why you crammed me into the back of this cab? So you could interrogate me into sharing my feelings? You both know me better than that,” Arthur said as he glanced between them. His eyes were so empty. Ariadne had never seen them this devoid of any emotion, and it broke her heart a bit.

“I do know you,” she said before she reached forward and took his hand. “I know that every time you get hurt in a dream you cut yourself off.”

“You've done it for years,” Eames continued. “So just out with it.” Arthur looked between them before he pulled his hand free of hers.

“What makes either of you think you know anything about me? Give it a rest; I've told both of you how I feel about you and here you are trying to force me to open up. Just stop, let it go, I'm not that type of person and you know it. Now leave it alone or I swear to god I will find some way out of this cab just to be rid of both of you.” His words were as cold as his expression and for some reason it hurt much more than Ariadne expected it to. Eames, however, just looked angry and for a moment she thought he might punch Arthur. They sat in silence for a long time before Eames finally broke the silence.

“Job is over. What are you going to do now?” he asked.

“Tie up some loose ends,” Arthur replied in a flat voice. She knew exactly what loose end he was talking about.

“Maybe someone should help you with that loose end,” Ariadne offered and he stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

“I can handle it,” he said and she just wished he would tell her what he had planned if nothing else. “Also I wouldn't plan on keeping any money you get from this job. I have a feeling our friend is going to want hush money.”

“I figured as much,” Eames replied as he moved an arm so it rested on the back of the seat behind Arthur. The motion confused Ariadne for a moment and she caught his eyes to see if they would give anything away. He said 'later' without sound and if Arthur noticed he did not seem to care one way or another. Eames tried to make small talk the rest of the way back to LA and she tried to encourage Arthur to join in, although he refused. It was frustrating because she knew that something was bothering him but he was refusing to say what it was. The drive was long because of traffic and from time to time she wanted to rest her head on his shoulder. She wondered if he would react at all if she did and she almost got up the courage to try when they pulled up in front of the hotel. The bill was atrocious even split three ways and it seemed pointless now since they had gotten nothing out of Arthur. Instead, he pulled his bags out of the cab and walked into the hotel without a word. She watched him go and felt utterly helpless.

“I don't know what to do,” Ariadne said. “I saw that woman, I saw the look in her eyes, and there is no way he got out of there without her doing something to him. He spent the entire job in so much pain from that one wound.”

“Let's go get something for dinner,” Eames said and she nodded without looking at him. They walked up to their rooms, dropped off their bags, and met back in the lobby. They went to a brew pub and Eames downed a beer quite quickly right away before he ordered another. The food was good, she guessed, but her mind was really not on anything but that empty look in Arthur's eyes. “I'm going to tell you something that no one else knows.”

“You have secrets? Perish the thought,” Ariadne replied and smiled at him before it faded when she realized just how serious he was. “Sorry.”

“It's all right. I'm usually a smart ass so it doesn't surprise me that you would take anything I say as snark. This time, however, I'm afraid I'm being serious,” he said before he leaned back in his chair and seemed to be deep in thought. “I'm not very good at being subtle like our dear point man so I'm just going to be blunt; about two years ago, roughly, Arthur and I had a physical relationship.” Her jaw dropped and she was sure her expression was probably nothing short of hysterical. She searched his face for some hint that this was a joke but his eyes were deadly serious.

“But, he, you...” Ariadne stumbled through her words trying to come up with something coherent to say.

“It lasted about six months and one day he said 'we're done' and that was the end of that. No one else knew and we didn’t talk about it until recently,” he said and his eyes never left hers. “I just thought you should know so you know why I'm so intense about this too.”

“Did you, you know, love him?” she asked in a small voice.

“No,” Eames replied with absolutely no hesitation. “That doesn’t mean that I don't give a toss about the guy though. I wouldn't be here telling you this if I didn't because I'm pretty sure he doesn't want people to know. Remember what I said about him surrendering to Walter?”

“Yes, I remember,” Ariadne replied as she tried to wrap her head around the information she had just learned.

“I'm still pretty convinced this is the case so we need to figure out a way to keep him from following through with his plan, assuming he has one,” he said.

“He does. He's Arthur; he's probably had this planned out from the beginning. That's just how he works. And he's also a master of making them so no one can derail them,” Ariadne said leaning back in her chair. Eames did not reply and they ate their food in silence. She wished she had some sort of brilliant plan that would help keep Arthur safe but she really had no idea what to do. And all she could do now was hope that their combined knowledge would find some way of stopping whatever plan Arthur had.

\---

Arthur watched from his hotel window as Eames and Ariadne left, for dinner he assumed. He knew Eames was going to tell her about their relationship and they would sit around trying to come up with some sort of method to make him spill his guts. The pain from the shots still lingered even hours later, and when he had said that since it was not real it did matter, he wondered who exactly he was trying to convince. The folder containing all of the information they had extracted sat on his desk. Cobb had been smart enough to have Ariadne write it all down as soon as she woke up. Now it was just a matter of delivering it to where they needed it to go. Fischer would get the information he needed and the police would have an excuse to open a case against Susana Mitchell. Arthur just hoped that it would be enough of a distraction to keep everyone safe. He and Eames were the two she and Dave had gotten a good look at. They were the ones she would go after first and she would try to connect the dots back to Ariadne, Cobb, and Yusuf. It was a messy situation that he had almost no control over.

His cellphone sat on the desk next to the information and he watched it for what felt like a long time. They would arrange a time and place to meet with Fischer. Within a day of that meeting, he expected to hear from Walter so they could settle whatever petty score they had. After that Arthur knew he had to vanish. Eames was good at that already and he had done it on more than one occasion but he would have to remain hidden until either Susana was indicted or she lost interest. Both of those scenarios could take years and falling off the grid for that long was not something he was looking forward to. He wanted to keep working, he had to keep working, because it was all he had. His fist clenched around his die before he rolled it on the table. It landed just as it should.

Arthur picked up his phone and dialed Cobb's number. He had to find out when they were going to meet with Fischer and he would plan from there. It rang a few times before someone picked up.

“Hello?” It was Phillipa and he had to chew on the tip of his tongue to bring out the Arthur that she knew.

“Hey Phillipa, it's Arthur, can I talk to your dad?” he asked and his voice was several octaves higher.

“Sure! When are you going to come visit us again?” she asked.

“Soon, I promise,” he lied and there was a happy squeal before there was the shuffling of the phone.

“Arthur? Are you okay?” Cobb asked.

“I'm fine, Cobb, really, but we need to talk business,” he said because he was really starting to get annoyed with everyone asking if he was okay. “And it's probably best if we didn't do it over the phone.” There was a long silence and if it was anyone else they would have thought the line had gone dead but Arthur knew that Cobb was just thinking.

“Just come here. Phillipa just said that you promised you'd come see her soon and she'll never forgive you if you don't follow through with that,” he said.

“On my way.” Arthur hung up without saying goodbye. It was not like Cobb to bring work home but then again he had spent very little time with his kids recently. Still this was something that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. He gathered the papers and keys before he headed down to his car. As he pulled out of the hotel he caught sight of Eames' car on the way back. They drove right by each other and he knew that they were both watching him. Arthur looked straight ahead and drove until he reached the house. James and Phillipa nearly tackled him when he walked in but he only said hello to them briefly. They insisted he play with them and judging by the look he received from Cobb that seemed like the best idea. The kids finally went to bed and the two of them went out back. They sat on the steps of the porch with the folder between them. The skyline was bright thanks to the city but he could see a few stars.

“Call Fischer as soon as possible and we'll set up a meeting to give him the information. Then we'll leave the rest of it for the police,” Cobb said.

“Sounds good. I'll make sure our tracks are completely covered this time though I wouldn't expect a paycheck for this job,” Arthur said.

“I figured as much.” There was a moment of silence and he wondered why he was still here. That was all that needed to be said. “What happened in there, Arthur?”

“Don't tell me you're going to bother me about this too?” Arthur asked and Cobb creased his eyebrows. “Ariadne and Eames cornered me in a cab and tried to get me to talk about it. There's nothing to talk about, really, so let it go.”

“If there's nothing to talk about then why can't you just say it?” Cobb asked and Arthur felt his jaw muscles tighten; he had a point.

“After I managed to shoot Ariadne that woman turned her focus on me. She leaned on my shoulder while she said that she did not care about the extracted information, she just wanted to have her fun with me. She kicked me in the stomach to the point that I was coughing up blood and it hurt to breathe. When I tried to get away she threatened to put a bullet in my kneecap and we both know that I've experienced that before.” Cobb winced but did not say anything “So I hesitated. The thought of sixteen hours with that woman was worth the risk. I managed to get to the gun but not before she shot me in the back. I shot her in the stomach and she retaliated by unloading an entire round into me. Shoulders, arms, legs, knees, everywhere except somewhere that would kill me. She locked the rest of the guns away and used the last bullet to kill herself. I lay there until I bled to death.” A heavy silence passed and despite that everyone said talking about it made it easier, Arthur knew this was a lie. He felt no different now that someone knew exactly what had happened.

“Arthur, I'm sorry that--”

“It's not your fault,” he interrupted. “We just need to finish this job and we can't do that without getting in touch with Fischer. When should we meet him?”

“Tomorrow and the earlier, the better,” Cobb said and he was thankful his time in the dream had been dropped. Arthur nodded and flipped his phone open as he dialed the number.

“Susana never showed up for our meeting so I'm assuming something happened,” Fischer said without missing a beat.

“You would assume correctly. Where should we meet?” he asked.

“In front of the convention center,” Fischer said.

“Early,” Arthur replied and there was that same beat of silence where he was never sure what was going through their employer’s head.

“Eight then. I will see you gentlemen tomorrow.” And the line went dead.

“Eight in front of the convention center,” Arthur repeated and Cobb nodded. “The job is done; we should send everyone on their way.”

“Yes, I'll tell them to all head home since this job is over. If we earn any money I'll make sure it reaches them.” They sat in silence and he listened to the sound of the world around the house. It felt peaceful and he envied Cobb for this place and the family he had. He envied that trust that came much easier for him. There were so many things he envied about Cobb that it was almost frustrating to think about them.

“I'll work on tying up the loose ends,” Arthur said as he pushed himself to his feet.

“Maybe we shouldn't send everyone home then,” Cobb said and Arthur looked down at him. He made sure his face was as blank as possible.

“It's fine. I'll take care of it, that's my job after all.” Arthur did not wait for a response before he turned on his heels and walked through the house toward the door. They would meet Fischer early, by afternoon he expected a phone call from Walter and by evening everything from this job would be over one way or another.


	17. Chapter 17

Ariadne's stomach hitched when she saw Arthur driving in the opposite direction. She exchanged a glance with Eames before she picked up her cell phone and called Cobb because if there was anyone that would know where Arthur was going it would be him. If there was one person he would even say goodbye to it would be Cobb. He was the only person they kept in contact with on a regular basis. She was dialing his number before she could think twice and was chewing on the tip of her tongue each time it rang.

“Hello, Ariadne? Is something wrong?” Cobb answered on the other end and she froze for a moment and thought about how she was going to say this without sounding like a crazy person.

“Hey, I was wondering if you've seen Arthur at all. I knocked on his door and he didn't answer,” she lied and Eames crocked an eyebrow at her.

“Oh, yes, I just spoke to him. He's on his way over with the information and we're going to discuss our next move. I'll call you as soon as we decide what we're doing next,” he replied and Ariadne released a breath she had not known she was holding.

“Okay, let me know, thanks,” she said before she hung up the phone. “He said Arthur is on the way over to talk business.”

“Probably to set up a meeting with Fischer to exchange the information. Once that folder changes hands, the job is over,” Eames replied as he parked the car and climbed out. “After that we can leave and do whatever we want. We go our separate ways and hope that the next time we see each other isn't in a cell or by coincidence alone.”

“That’s kind of a dark way of looking at it,” Ariadne said as she closed the door behind her but he only shrugged.

“That's the business, darling. Very rarely are there partnerships and it's even more rare that they work out.” Eames kept his eyes on her and it made her feel a little nervous.

“Does that mean there's going to be another round of drinks as a way of saying 'goodbye' like after the Fischer job?” Ariadne asked and Eames paused.

“No, I don't think so. This time we'll all leave without looking back,” he said.

“Even you?” she asked and Eames blinked and gave her one of his smiles that said absolutely nothing.

“I tried the partnership deal, love, and it just didn't work out,” he said and she knew exactly what he was talking about.

“One day it just ended?” Ariadne asked and he nodded. The two of them walked back toward their respective hotel rooms before she reached forward and took his arm. “If I asked you to keep in touch, would you?”

“Otherwise I'd have to keep dragging information out of Cobb like I did before,” Eames said and it made her smile that he was keeping tabs on her, on them, even though he did not need to. She wished him a good night before going into her hotel room and collapsing onto her bed. No matter if a job went perfectly or complete shit, they always left her feeling exhausted. She wanted to get some sleep but she knew that she would not be able to until she heard back from Cobb. She closed her eyes and started to drift off again, hoping that somehow sleep would find her.

The sound of her phone ringing jolted Ariadne from a light sleep and she answered the phone with no hesitation. It was Cobb and he told her that Arthur had told him exactly what happened in the dream. It turned her stomach a little and it only got worse when he told her that the meeting was set and that she could leave now. The job was over and he was going to pass everything on to the others. For some reason that made a lump form in her throat. After a brief conversation with Cobb she hung up, not before promising to come see him before she left, and sat in complete silence. Arthur was on his way back and there was no telling where he would go after the meeting tomorrow. Without even thinking Ariadne jumped out of bed, slipped on her shoes, and knocked on Eames' door.

“Ariadne? Shouldn't you be asleep?” he asked but she noticed that he was not undressed and did not look like he was sleeping at all.

“I just got off the phone with Cobb,” she said and he stared at her.

“Yes, I did too. I just booked my ticket back to London for late tomorrow. What's this about?” Eames said and she blinked.

“Wait, you're leaving? What about Arthur and trying to keep him from doing something stupid?” Ariadne asked.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“Well, not exactly,” she stumbled over her words when she realized that she really had no idea either. “I don't even know where to start.” Eames watched her for what felt like a long time before he stepped out of his room and strolled down the hallway. It took her a moment before she realized that he was walking straight to Arthur's room. “He's not here though; Cobb said he was on his way and that was just a short while ago.”

“I know; we're going to meet him in there,” he said before he pulled out another card key and opened the door.

“How did you get a key to his room?” Ariadne asked.

“Does that really matter?” Eames asked as he held the door open for her. She felt a little odd going into Arthur's room when she knew she was not welcome. He had made it clear the last time she was here that he did not want her in the same room as him. Even armed with this knowledge Ariadne could not deny the soaring in her heart because their track record of being alone was not that great. She was not surprised that his bags were packed and he seemed like he was ready to walk out the door at any moment. The job was over and that meant Arthur was ready to move on as well. Less than a day from now and there was a chance she would not know where he was. If Arthur wanted to, he could make sure no one ever found him again. The thought was quite terrifying. “I've found that the best way to make Arthur listen is to not give him a choice in the matter.”

“So we're going to force him to listen,” Ariadne said as she looked around. “That didn't seem to work so well in the cab.”

“I'll just have to add a little more force,” Eames said as he looked around. They did not say a word until there was the sound of the door opening. Eames wasted no time before he snatched Arthur by the collar, dragged him across the room and slammed him down on the bed. The motion was almost violent and Ariadne winced as Eames pinned the other man down.

“If this is your new way of greeting me, we really need to have a serious talk,” Arthur said and she was surprised by how indifferent he sounded.

“Flashback to the good old days?” Eames said with a wicked grin.

“I wouldn't go that far but they were a long time ago. I can assure you that the outcome won't be the same as back then though.” It was in that moment that Ariadne realized that he had no idea she was there.

“And here I was hoping for a repeat performance.” Eames paused before his expression went completely serious. “You're not going anywhere though, not until we get some answers out of you.”

“We?” Arthur looked around until he saw her standing nearby. “Are you here to tag team me again?”

“Fun idea but not quite our immediate intentions. Maybe later on we can discuss that.” Without even meaning to Ariadne felt her cheeks burn at the mere mention of what Eames was insinuating. Arthur, however, did not even flinch. “So when are you just going to tell me, tell us, what you're planning?” Something dark crossed in front of Arthur's eyes and it was something she had never seen in him before. Eames seemed stunned by it too and was about to comment on it when Arthur managed to shove him back with such force that it surprised everyone in the room. Before anyone could react the tables were turned and Arthur had Eames pinned against a wall by his shirt.

“Here is how this is going to work: you two are going to walk out of this room without another word. You're going to get on your respective flights and you're going to go about your lives. And if we see each other again it will be on my terms. I've had enough of both of you thinking you can bully some answer out of me. I don't need to be protected, especially by the likes of you two.” Arthur's voice was dark and dangerous; this was a side of him she had never seen before. She had seen a glimpse the last time she had seen him lose control but this was different. Eames stared at him like he had just been shot before he yanked Arthur into a rough kiss. The motion made Ariadne's mouth hang open because up until that point she had not entirely believed what Eames had said about the two of them. Arthur, however, shoved the forger away and punched him, hard. A heavy silence followed as Arthur practically threw Eames out of the room and slammed the door.

“Arthur...:” Ariadne tried to speak when she saw the swell of his shoulders. He leaned heavily against the wood and she walked forward. “Why didn't you ever tell me about you and Eames?”

“Because it's not important. I don't remember you ever telling me about any past partners you had,” Arthur said and his voice was low. “I think it's time for you to go.”

“I really don't want to, not yet,” she replied honestly. He watched her over his shoulder for a moment before he moved away from the door.

“Then stay,” Arthur mumbled before he sat on his bed. He leaned against the headboard and opened his laptop. Ariadne was not sure what to do next so she next on the edge of the bed next to him. He visibly tensed but did not say anything right away. “I'm assuming Cobb called and told you what happened in the dream.”

“He did,” she said. “I'm sorry you had to go through that.”

“We got the job done and that's all that matters,” he said and not once did he look up from his computer.

“Where will you go now?” Ariadne asked and he shrugged.

“I'll go where the work takes me. Where that is I have no idea yet. We'll just have to see.” Arthur paused. “Will you go back to Rome?”

“I don't really want to go back alone,” she confessed. “Maybe we could—”

“That would be a bad idea,” he interrupted and if she was honest with herself she knew it was as well. Ariadne could feel the heat of his body at her back when they were this close. She was ashamed to admit that even if there was nothing left between them she still wanted to spend the night with him. She remembered what Eames had said, about how it had been physical between them and nothing more.

“Maybe we should make this an interesting night then,” she said and he froze. “Since we might not see each other again.” Arthur sat completely still for a moment before he set his laptop aside and moved so he was sitting next to her. Ariadne honestly had no idea what to expect from him right now. Without warning Arthur leaned forward and kissed her. This was not soft and tender nor was it angry and violent; it reminded her of the many times they had kissed over the past year. His hands were on her hips and Ariadne wrapped her arms around his neck so they could fall back onto the bed. Instead Arthur pulled away and stared at her with intense eyes.

“Do you feel anything between us right now?” he asked and her stomach sank.

“Arthur, does it--”

“Yes, it does, now tell me if you feel anything. And I will know if you're lying.” More than anything she wanted to ignore the singing in her heart when he was close, when they kissed, when she thought about having him in her arms. Her silence seemed answer enough for him and Ariadne knew he was making a point. That did not make it hurt any less as she moved away from him.

“I should go,” she said. Arthur nodded and walked her to the door. What surprised her more than anything was when he kissed her forehead lightly before he closed the door. For the life of her Ariadne could not figure out whether the gesture made her feel better or worse.

\---

It was a moment of relief for Arthur when Ariadne realized on her own that what she was suggesting was a terrible idea. There was no way they could spend the night together and not have it mean something. Her coming to that realization meant that he got to avoid hurting her again and that was a relief. Both Eames and Ariadne needed to be handled in vastly different ways. The forger only understood extreme gestures so throwing him out was really the best thing. For Ariadne it was best if she walked out on her own. He clutched his die tightly before he rolled it on the end table and watched as it landed just as it was supposed to.

It was early still but the meeting with Fischer was early and he needed to make sure he was ready. Arthur changed out of his suit and leaned heavily against the counter in his bathroom. The sooner he fell asleep the sooner the meeting would pass and everything would go in the right direction. Everyone would leave and he could as well. It was going to be liberating, he was sure of it, because partnerships in this business rarely worked. The fact that he had worked with Cobb as long as he had was nothing short of a miracle. And those six months when Cobb had had to lie low and he had worked with Eames was a perfect example of how it just did not work. No more working with the same people more than once. Arthur climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling before he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

The alarm woke him up a little after six and he spent the next hour or so getting the last of his things together. Cobb had the folder with the information but he tucked a copy into his suit jacket just in case. Arthur swung all of his bags over his shoulder and walked down to the front desk. He checked out and did not bother to change his credit card for any of the other rooms. If they wanted to charge their room to his card he really did not care. The phone rang and he picked it up on the first ring.

“Are you ready?” Cobb asked. His voice was low and flat and it only got like that when he was ready to do business.

“In my car about to pull out of the parking lot,” Arthur replied.

“Let's meet a few blocks away and walk. I don't want him to see our cars. More so mine than yours,” Cobb replied.

“Sounds good, I'll see you soon.” The line went dead and he rolled his shoulders. Arthur started up his car before he pulled out of the hotel parking lot and into the city. Despite it being early the city was already busy and it was nearly time for the meeting when he met Cobb a few blocks away. They did not say anything as they stopped in front of the massive convention center in the middle of town. They kept their backs to each other as they surveyed the area. Fischer climbed out of a limo that had pulled to the edge of the road as he waited for them.

“Gentlemen, good to see you,” he said. His voice was bright but his eyes were dark.

“You were right to worry about Susana Mitchell,” Cobb said as he handed over the file. “You might want to make sure that if your father's left hand man does dirty business he covers it up better.” Fischer narrowed his eyes as he looked over the papers before he closed the file and gave them both a forced smile.

“Well then, I'll have to find a way to deal with this. How would you like to arrange payment?” he asked and Arthur exchanged a glance with Cobb.

“Put it all in one account and I'll take care of the rest,” Arthur said and Fischer nodded as he handed them a slip of paper with a bank account number on it.

“I don't expect to hear from anyone about how they didn't get paid,” he said and Cobb shook his head.

“We'll make sure it gets where it needs to.” The three of them stood in silence before Fischer extended a hand.

“They were right; you are the best. Pleasure doing business with you both,” he said before he shook both of their hands. Without another word Fischer turned and climbed back into the limo. Cobb visibly relaxed as soon as the car pulled away.

“We are still so lucky he didn't recognize any of us,” he said.

“Extremely,” Arthur agreed.

“What are you going to do with our earnings?” Cobb asked as the two of them started back down the road.

“Hand them over to Walter so he'll keep his mouth shut,” Arthur said. “I'll drop off the information about the bodies to the police and the job will be done.” Cobb nodded but stopped when he arrived back at his car.

“Call, at the very least, before you take off, okay?” he said and Arthur stared.

“If that's what you want then fine,” he said and Cobb nodded. They stood for a moment before the extractor climbed into his car. Arthur watched him drive away before he got into his own car. As he drove toward the police station he started a mental countdown to when his phone was going to ring.


	18. Chapter 18

It took some careful maneuvering on his part to drop off the documents about Susana Mitchell to the police without linking it back to any of them. Arthur managed to get the information to someone who would take it seriously and now he was on his way back to his car. The phone was still silent and the countdown was still going on in his head. It was only a matter of time before Walter called, he knew that, but that did not make the time go by any faster. When he rounded the corner and saw Eames leaning against his door Arthur was not surprised. Despite the fact that he had thrown him out the last time they saw each other he knew that Eames was going to stop by before his flight if nothing else. They did not say anything to each other as Arthur settled next to the forger against the car.

“If you dent this I'm sending you the bill,” Arthur said.

“If you were the one who dented it you'd probably send me the bill anyway,” Eames replied. “Did the documents make it where they needed to go?”

“Fischer got what he wanted and the police now have a hint as to where to go to find some evidence against Susana Mitchell. Whether or not the police actually act on it is a completely different issue,” he said before he cracked his neck. “Back to London?”

“For now,” Eames said. “Yourself?”

“Depends where the next job takes me,” Arthur replied.

“Until next time then,” Eames said before he moved from the car and leaned in close to Arthur his hands on either side of Arthur’s body. He made no attempt to move the forger out of the way despite the logical part of his brain telling him to. He also made no attempt to stop Eames when he leaned forward and kissed him. The kiss was soft and chaste, lasting only a second before Eames pulled away. He remained close for only a moment before he moved away and down the street. Arthur watched him go until he flagged a cab down and vanished around a corner. He wanted to tell Eames there would not be a next time for them but he knew that Eames would have stayed around much longer if that was the case. His phone rang and Arthur reached into his pocket and hit the talk button.

“Well done,” Walter said on the other line and his tone was not mocking. “I was expecting you to get the information out of Susana Mitchell but to extract additional incriminating facts as well is impressive.”

“You're floored, I'm sure,” Arthur replied as he sat down in his car.

“We need to have a chat. Why don't you meet me at your office space and we'll go from there?” The spot was secluded and they would not be bothered there. He was not expecting anything less of the other point man.

“See you in an hour,” he said and hung up the phone. In the glove compartment was the 9MM that Cobb had given him. It was loaded with a full round and he had cleaned it the night before just to be safe. Going in expecting a fight was not smart on his part but it seemed like the most logical thing to do. Arthur pulled out into traffic and started down the streets to the office. He made no attempt to hide his car as he parked directly in front of the building and climbed out. He switched his belt with the holster and hid the gun away but his fingers itched to pull the trigger.. He felt ready. The climb up the stairs to the top was silent and he noted that he did not hear anyone moving around. It made him smile to think that he had beaten Walter here because that meant he had the upper hand.

Arthur pushed the door open and blinked when he saw a single table sitting in the middle of the room. He had not cleared out the space, not yet, but everything was gone save that one table. It made him uneasy knowing that someone had moved their things but there was really no one it could have been. The door slammed behind him and Arthur turned to draw the pistol but it was knocked from his hands before he could click off the safety. He took a step back and narrowed his eyes at Walter who stood before him.

“You're early. I'm starting to think it's some sort of compulsion for you,” Walter said. Arthur did not respond because he was in no mood to talk with this man. He took a step forward and punched his fist barely connecting with Walter's jaw. The older man ducked tom avoid the second punch and Arthur had to block a sharp hit to his own kidneys. “Well you're in a hurry I see,” Walter said as he took a step back.

“Hurry to end this,” Arthur said and he cracked his neck. The gun was off to the side but he honestly had no idea what he was going to do when he got it. Shooting someone in cold blood was really not his style but he also knew that there was no way Walter would let it all go.

“End this? Oh Arthur I did not want to believe the rumors but it's true; you don't have any imagination,” Walter said and he cracked his knuckles. The amused smile faded into something much more dangerous. The other point man rushed forward and Arthur was suddenly blocking an onslaught of deadly punches. For being older that did not stop Walter from being fast, very fast at that, and his punches were strong enough that Arthur knew that his forearms were going to be littered with dark bruises the next day. He ducked to avoid another punch before he lunged forward and tackled Walter to the ground. He was sure a comment about that 'not being professional' was forthcoming but he not give the other point man time to make it. Instead Arthur cracked a skew of hard punches across Walter's face and felt a little relieved when he saw blood. Maybe if he broke a bone or two Walter would realize that this fight between the two of them was futile and they should both really move on with their lives.

The thought was enough to distract him just enough that Walter cracked his elbow against Arthur's cheekbone and sent him off to the side. Walter pulled Arthur to his feet and slammed him against the wall of the office space hard enough that it knocked the wind out of him. A knee to the stomach and a sharp punch across the face had the stars of the night dancing in front of Arthur's eyes but there was still that same look in Walter's. He was unforgiving now and he was relentless as he punched and kicked before he threw Arthur to the ground. Another sharp kick to the ribs and Arthur heard a crack. The images of the dream hit him so hard that he wanted nothing more than to the check his totem.

“That was the preview so now I think it's time for the main event,” Walter said and his voice was dark.

“And what might that be?” Arthur asked as he split blood onto the other point man's shoes.

“Sleep tight, Arthur.” The kick to him temple was hard enough that the world went completely black instantly. When his eyes opened the office space was empty and he was alone. It took a few moments for his vision to clear. Arthur used the nearby wall to help get to his feet and was surprised to find that his gun was still on the floor nearby. It made no sense for Walter to knock him out, render him completely vulnerable only to leave him not only alive but armed. He picked up the gun and noticed that something was sitting on the single table in the room. He walked toward it carefully and picked up a single piece of paper that read I have something precious to you with a large W at the end. Panic clenched Arthur's chest before he had time to think and he raced out of the building. He wasted no time getting to the hotel building and banging on Ariadne's door. When she answered she looked utterly bewildered and he was completely lost.

“Arthur, what are you doing here? What happened to you?” she asked and he stared.

“You're okay?” he asked.

“Of course I am. What is going on? Who did this to you?” Ariadne asked again but he ignored her as he picked up his phone and dialed Eames' number without thinking twice.

“I'm about to get on a plane so this better be important,” Eames voice said on the other line.

“You're at the airport? Is anyone else with you?” Arthur asked and he could hear an annoyed sigh on the other end.

“I just saw Yusuf a moment ago, but yes, I'm literally about to walk onto my flight. Why are you calling now of all times?” Eames asked but Arthur hung up and started to dial another number.

“Arthur, what is going on? Are you okay?” Ariadne reached forward and touched his cheek finding a deep cut that he did not even know was there. At the moment he really did not care as the phone rang over and over again before the voice mail kicked in, 'You have reached Dom Cobb' and he hung up the phone again without leaving a message. Arthur dialed the home number and it rang and rang before there was the sound of someone picking up.

“Cobb, where are you?” he asked but the only sound on the other end was the sound of crying, James and Phillipa crying, before the line went dead. “He has the kids.”

“Wait, Walter has the kids?” Ariadne asked but he ignored her as he raced down the hallway. The sound of a door closing behind him meant that she was following him but he made it back to his car before she could catch up. He was halfway out the parking lot when she emerged, staring at him with wide eyes. Arthur ignored her and made his way through the streets of LA as fast as he could without drawing any attention to himself. There was a new car sitting outside Cobb's house when he pulled up and the front door was open. Arthur pulled the gun out and clenched it tightly as he eased through the open door and nearly tripped over the unconscious body of Miles. He had what looked like a rather nasty hit on the head but his pulse was steady. Arthur walked further into the house and froze when he came to the family room. Cobb lay on the ground near the other point man's feet and he was not moving. From where he was standing he could not see any wound and he just prayed that he was knocked out. Standing in front of Walter, however, with tears streaming down their eyes were James and Phillipa.

“Arthur, how nice of you to join us. Isn't that right, kids?” Walter asked.

“Uncle Arthur, what's going on? Why did he hurt daddy?” James asked and Arthur faked his best smile at the kids.

“You're going to be fine, okay? Right now I want you to close your eyes and cover your ears and keep them like that until I say so. Can you guys do that?” he asked and both of them nodded before they squeezed their eyes shut and clamped their hands over their ears. “Walter, let them go, this has nothing to do with what is going on between us.”

“You can drop your gun now, Arthur,” Walter said as he cocked the barrel on his own gun. “Sooner rather than later would be good.” Arthur chewed on the inside of his cheek as he knelt down and put the gun on the ground and stood with both of his hands up in surrender.

“This is between us so let's keep it that way,” he said. He really wished he could get those kids away from this maniac.

“Actually it is still between us,” Walter said. “This is the key difference between us, Arthur. I have no connections so if someone decides they want to come after me there isn't anyone they can hurt in the process. You, on the other hand, seem to insist on having human connections. It's a fatal weakness.”

“You're dragging children into this to prove a point?” Arthur asked and he could not hide his anger but that only seemed to amuse the other point man.

“You just don't seem to understand that it doesn't matter to me if they are kids or senior citizens. I'm an extremely petty man and you hurt my ego. The best way to get revenge against people like you is to hurt those they care about. I have to admit it was entertaining watching you throw away all of the people who care about you in some vain attempt to protect them from me,” Walter shrugged and smiled. “It seems like you are more than willing to die for them so how about I grant that request.” He swung the barrel of his gun away from the kids, pointed it straight at Arthur, and pulled the trigger.

\---

Ariadne was more than thankful that Eames had decided to leave her his rental so she had a way to get to her own flight. She followed closely behind Arthur and arrived mere minutes after he did. She walked past Miles’s unconscious body and into the main room just in time to see Walter fire and Arthur crumble to the floor. Without even thinking about the man that stood in front of her with a gun Ariadne knelt next to Arthur and tried to figure out what to do next. Blood blossomed from the wound in his stomach and his eyes were closed tightly in pain.

“He took that bullet to keep all of you safe from me,” Walter said as he shoved the kids away and walked toward her.

“Just because he insulted you? Is your confidence so low that you can't take one insult?” Ariadne spit out as she tried to keep pressure on the wound.

“Ariadne, don't,” Arthur whispered as Walter laughed loudly.

“He was competition, my dear. Now I'm the best in the business and there is no one who can argue the fact. Not only did I outsmart the famous Arthur but I managed to get the best of him in every aspect. I have no problems with you, Ariadne. You’ll just have to live with yourself knowing that he died protecting you, protecting all of you. I do hope you'll let the rest of your hunting party know that.” He put his gun away and knelt down next to them and smiled. “As much as I'd love to stay and watch the life drain from your eyes, I have jobs waiting for me. The game was fun, Arthur, but I won so that's the end of it.” Ariadne glared and scrambled to get Arthur's gun with every intent of putting a bullet to this man. Walter was faster and he pinned her against the floor by the neck. He tore the gun from her fingers and narrowed his eyes. “Oh that is not a smart thing to do my dear. It's very insulting.”

“And why would I care about insulting you?” she spit out and he rolled his eyes before he stood and looked down at her. His expression was deadly seriously.

“No, you're insulting your friend here who is going to die protecting you. It would be very rude of you to just throw that back in his face,” Walter said and he looked at the two children on the floor next to Cobb. “How would you like it if I put a bullet to one of those little one's, Arthur? How would that knowledge sit with you at the end?”

“Please, please, don't, leave them alone,” Arthur voice cracked and he sounded broken. Ariadne moved so she sat next to him again and put her hand on his wound. Walter turned looked at Arthur before he grinned and clicked the safety on Arthur's weapon.

“There's no point in hurting those around you when you're going to die, Arthur. That's unnecessary bloodshed even for me. However, I have jobs waiting for them so I do hope you enjoy these last agonizing moments,” he said and a single gun shot rang out. Walter fell to the floor, a spray of blood and skull from a single shot between his eyes. Ariadne looked up and saw Eames rushing toward them with a gun in hand. He knelt down and touched Arthur's cheek.

“Gather some bandages. We need to get him to a hospital. We can't let them see Walter's body or I'll end up in jail,” he said as he rushed off. Ariadne put a hand on Arthur’s pale cheek.

“Hey, you stay with me,” she said as his eyes started to close. “Arthur, don't you dare die on me. Keep those eyes open because we're going to get you to a doctor in just a second so you hang on.” Arthur's eyes closed slowly and Ariadne screamed that he was not allowed to leave.

\---

Arthur felt an intense pain and opened his eyes slowly. He was in a hospital bed and it hurt to breathe from the bandages he felt over his stomach. There was the sound of movement around him and before he could react the entire bed was surrounded by Eames, Cobb, James, Phillipa, Yusuf and Ariadne. They stared at him with wide eyes.

“About time you decided to come around,” Eames said and his normal snark was in his voice but he did not seem to mean it.

“How long was I out?” he asked.

“Nearly a week,” Cobb said. “They weren't sure you were going to wake up at all.”

“You're…is everyone okay?” Arthur asked and the extractor gave him a warm smile.

“I have a pretty impressive bump on my head but we're okay. The kids are fine too if a little shaken up,” he said.

“We were worried about you,” Phillipa said before she took his hand. “You saved us from the bad man.” Arthur gave her a small smile but did not say anything.

“Let's give him some more time to rest,” Eames suggested and he started to ease everyone out of the room except Ariadne, He gave her a small nod when he closed the door and they were left alone. Arthur noticed that she looked tired and her hair was a mess.

“You've been here the entire time,” he said and she nodded slowly.

“You needed someone here and I wanted to be that someone,” Ariadne said and she reached forward to take his hand in hers. “Even if you don't want me to.”

“I'm sorry for everything that I said to you,” Arthur said and she blinked a few times as if surprised. “Is it really that surprising for me to apologize?”

“Well, no, I just wasn't expecting it. That's all.” She looked down and chewed on her lip as she so often did when she was trying to come up with something to say. “I'm just glad you seem to be coming through okay.”

“Ariadne,” he said and she looked up at him, “I'm sorry that I can't be who you want me to be emotionally. I was wrong, I did care about you, but I can't change the way I am. I can't make myself relax and trust someone completely because I just can't. Not now and maybe not ever. That is not an exaggeration or anything like that; it's the truth.”

“I understand that now, Arthur,” Ariadne replied and she squeezed his hand. “And I know that time does not heal all wounds. I also know that there is no way I could make it in this business alone. I just don't work that way.”

“I'm sure Eames would be more than willing to work with you if you asked,” Arthur said and she smiled.

“Yes, he already has, but we need someone to do our research for us as well,” she said.

“Ariadne, I can't--”

“Business partners, friends, whatever label makes you comfortable, but we want you to work with us. I have no expectations, I'm not letting that happen again, but what I do want is to work with the best. And maybe someday you'll trust me, maybe not, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Ariadne released his hand before extending her own to him. “I just want a partner and nothing else. I'm not going to sit on my hands and wait but I want you to know that if the timing is right, I'll be here.” She paused. “Besides, Eames will be insufferable if it's just the two of us and I could use some backup.” Arthur laughed and it hurt but he did not let it show. The idea of working with the same people again, the idea that he was going to be with these two people all the time, made him a little nervous. She was openly saying that she accepted him and all his faults. She was saying that Eames did as well and they were both willing to embrace them instead of fix them. Eames opened the door and walked in.

“Well, what did he say?” he asked.

“Still waiting for an answer,” Ariadne replied. She did not retract her hand. Arthur could feel both of their eyes on him.

“You're not going to try and make me be open about anything, will you?” he asked and Eames scoffed.

“You'd sooner take another bullet and you're no use to anyone in a hospital bed.”

“I, we, accept you just the way you are and whatever baggage that might entail,” she said and still she did not retract her hand. Every logical bone in his body screamed that this was a terrible idea and that it was all going to go horribly wrong. At the same time he thought about how well he really did work with both of them and how well they both understood when he needed to be left alone and when they needed to nag him. The scenarios he ran through his head were so drastically different that he had no idea which one was most likely to happen. There was no 'definite' and 'certainty' when it came to human interactions, he had come to realize. Arthur looked at Ariadne and then at Eames; both of their expressions were sincere and he knew he was good at reading people. He nodded before he reached forward and took Ariadne's hand in a tight shake. They both smiled at him and he had to smile back. Perhaps the better of the scenarios was going to take place after all. There really was no way of telling for sure.

And Arthur decided that, just this one time, not knowing was okay.

\----

The heat in Rome in the middle of June was almost too much to bear but Ariadne decided that it was best to ignore it. She was in the middle of St. Peter's Plazza and just could not get enough of the scenery around her. She did not care if she looked like a tourist as she admired every single aspect of the church and everything around it. It had taken a year to come back here and she was more than glad because every inch of the city made the waiting worth it.

“It's like something out of a dream,” Arthur said from behind her and she grinned.

“That was a terrible pun,” Eames said and she turned to see the two of them glaring at each other. She had long since given up trying to mediate their bickering when she realized that it was just the way they communicated. Arthur rolled his eyes and pushed past both of them, hands in his pockets as he looked around, his back to them. Ariadne exchanged a glance with Eames and they followed him as he wandered. And not once did Arthur check over his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Boy was this thing a monster. I had so much fun writing it though so I hope everyone enjoyed reading it. Just some last minute notes before I wrap this thing up.  
> 1\. All errors are my own and I hope they don't take away from the story.  
> 2\. Another thank you to laria_gwyn for beta-ing this thing for me and then agreeing to continue to beta my stuff. You are seriously so awesome and I can't thank you enough.  
> 3\. I know I left some things unresolved and I'm not saying one way or another if there could be a sequel because at the moment I don't have any ideas for one. That could change so who knows.  
> 4\. The bar I described at the beginning is based on a real place and the owners are awesome for letting me write there like the dork I am. Also the cafe and restaurant in LA are also real places. The description of St. Peter's Plazza is accurate (it really is unreal) and the train time from LA to San Diego is also accruate. I covered details for some reason.  
> 5\. Thank you readers! I know this thing was huge and I appreciate it so much that you took the time to read my fic. Your feedback has helped me get out of the creative rut I've been in for months and I can't thank you all enough for that.  
> 6\. I'm going to write more inception fic and I can already see two of the prompts I want to write going multi chapter. Another fan fic novel? Who knows.  
> Thanks again everyone and I hope you enjoyed my fic!


End file.
